Cookies and Cream Bark

This Valentine’s Day, I decided to make a special, personalized treat for my Valentine instead of giving him a heart-shaped Russell Stover box.  Cookies and cream flavored ice cream, chocolate, and cake are the only type of dessert he will tolerate (which, as a dessert freak, is the most confusing preference I have ever heard of), so I attempted to make a cookies and cream bark that I had tried once at my favorite candy store, Candy Kitchen.  I usually find my inspiration from experiences or other blogs, then attempt to recreate the recipes with little success.  However, this bark came out exactly like the real stuff!  And the best part?  It only requires two ingredients and eight minutes of your time.  Easy and so delicious!   

It was a little deflating, however, when my Valentine responded with “Yesss!! I’ve been craving cookies and cream bark all week” …before he even opened the box.  Apparently everyone knows these days that when birthdays or holidays arrive, some sort of homemade treat will be coming out of my kitchen.

Cookies and Cream Bark

Original recipe and photos by Culinary Chronicles of a College Kid.blogspot.com

Serves 4-5 (or one very hungry Valentine)

·         1 12 oz. bag of white chocolate chips

·         7-8 Oreos

Pour half of the bag of white chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl.  Place in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each one.  Once the chocolate is completely melted, add the rest of the chocolate chips to the melted chocolate and stir.  Place in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring again after each until all the chocolate is melted.

Put the Oreos into a large Ziploc bag and crush them until they are fine.  You can use a rolling pin for this or simply crush them with your hands. 

Pour the crushed cookies into the bowl of melted chocolate and stir until all the cookies are fully incorporated.

Next, place a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet.  Pour the melted chocolate and cookie mixture onto the wax paper and spread evenly.  You can make the bark as thick or as thin as you’d like.

Place in the freezer for about twenty minutes.  Once the bark is solid, take it out of the freezer and break apart into pieces as large or as small as you want.  Store at room temperature…if you can resist eating it all at once!

Yum Yum Yummm

Happy Valentine's Day :)

A few pieces left over for the chef.  They didn't fit in the box...I swear!

Enjoy :)

Total time: 8 minutes

Coming soon...

It has been well over a month since I last posted and I have been dying to get back into my blogging routine.  Schoolwork and job searching has been distracting, but I haven’t stopped cooking!  Here are a few things to look forward to in the coming weeks:

Spinach Salad with Lemon Chickpea Cous Cous

Elvis French Toast (peanut butter and banana. always)

Grilled Chicken Pizza for One

Oreo Bark

Check back soon for the full recipes!

Peanut Butter Chip Banana Muffins

This winter break has been pretty lazy for me – lots of lounging around the house and catching up on my favorite TV shows.  I’m using the fact that we were snowed in for three days as my excuse :)  I did manage to leave the house last week to spend some time with friends in the Poconos, however.  I wanted to make something yummy for everyone to snack on while we were there, so I decided to make some muffins that could be enjoyed in the morning for a quick breakfast, or a late night snack just in case it was too late for Domino’s to deliver (which almost happened when we called at 1:01 am and it closed at 1:00 am.  Luckily we were able to persuade the delivery boy to make a special exception for us!).

Banana and peanut butter is my favorite flavor combination, so I was very excited to see how these muffins would turn out.  I used a base recipe for banana chocolate chip muffins from For the Love of Cooking, and substituted the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips.  They came out so moist and delicious, I had trouble resisting eating all of them before I even left!  Everyone else agreed that they were top-notch.  Try them out for breakfast, snacking, or even dessert!

Peanut Butter Chip Banana Muffins

Adapted recipe and photos by Culinary Chronicles of a College Kid.blogspot.com

Original recipe by For the Love of Cooking.net

Makes 12 muffins

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large, very ripe bananas
• 1 cup peanut butter chips

Can you spot the bananas? They were so ripe that they blended in with the countertop!



First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Then, coat a muffin tray with cooking spray.  Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, white sugar, and brown sugar) in a large bowl.  Next, mix the wet ingredients (egg, oil, yogurt, vanilla, and mashed bananas) in separate bowl.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients slowly.  Make sure not to over mix, as this will create tougher muffins.

Fold in the peanut butter chips.  Fill the each muffin cup ¾ of the way full with batter. 

Place in the oven for 20-22 minutes and muffins are golden brown on the outside.  Let cool in the tray for five minutes before removing the muffins and letting them cool on a rack.  Enjoy!

She liked 'em

Total time: 35 minutes

My Super Sweet 22nd Birthday

This Christmas was culinary themed for me, as all of my family and friends knew that this blog was a major part of my fall semester.  I was so excited to find a slow cooker, a cookbook, and a food processor under my tree this year!  Best of all, though, was the cupcake classes I received as a birthday present from my sisters.

My birthday is on Christmas, which usually elicits some apologizes from people when they hear how my special day is overshadowed by the holiday season.  I, too, admit to feeling sorry for myself at times when my presents get lumped together into the "birthday/Christmas" category.  This birthday/Christmas, however, I had nothing to complain about.  I finally got a special day of my own this year, as the cupcake class was actually a surprise party!  I was shocked to find all my good friends waiting for me inside the Butter Lane Bakery when I arrived.  Cupcakes and my closest friends – what more could I ask for?

The private baking room, which consisted of three large cooking stations with a mixer on each, was reserved for our group for two hours.  Each station was in charge of making a different cupcake flavor - vanilla, chocolate, and banana (my favorite).  The bakery provided us with their recipes for each type of cupcake and gave us tips as we went along.  After the cupcakes were put in the oven, we had a delicious time whipping up some vanilla, chocolate, cream cheese, and peanut butter frostings.  Everyone had stomach aches at this point from sneaking fingerfulls of batter and frosting, but we mustered up enough energy to frost our 100 cupcakes that had just come out of the oven.  We were taught the “professional” way of frosting a cupcake, but the tricky technique was quickly abandoned by all after a few attempts.  What took the professionals ten seconds to complete, took my friends and I ten minutes to roughly imitate!  Instead, we resorted to mixing and matching our cupcakes and frostings as we pleased, and had a blast in the process. 

Here’s the proof:

The surprise - I cried.

The bakery

Worst cooks in America

How do you turn this thing on?  Well, the answer is the "on" switch.

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES!!!

Caught eating the batter

Proud bakers

Cupcakes for days

Time to frost!

Yum

Delicious treats and great memories were made.  I recommend a cooking or baking class as a present to any foodie you know, or just as a fun activity to do with your friends!

Stop by the Butter Lane Bakery if you are ever in NYC, or sign up for their cupcake class if you are looking to learn some new skills!  

P.S. A cupcake-themed birthday party is perfectly acceptable for a 22 year-old...

Stromboli

I’m back!  Sorry for the hiatus, these past few weeks have been crazy with cramming for finals and last minute Christmas shopping.  Now that things have calmed down, I’ll be posting some great recipes every few days again :)

As a “sorry for not posting in forever” and “thanks for coming back to read,” I’m posting my all time favorite recipe.  Stromboli is an appetizer that my family enjoys on Christmas Eve only – a tradition that dates back to my mother’s childhood.  It is loved by all and is probably more anticipated for than the presents under the tree.  This dish has been my responsibility for the past few years, as I started to take an interest in cooking, and it is crucial that I get it right…or I will never hear the end of it!

Because this recipe has been passed down from generations, the exact measurements have been lost in translation.  I’ll do my best to estimate, though.  You may have a little leftover cheese or pepperoni, but I’m sure you can find other uses for it!

Stromboli

Original recipe and photos by Culinary Chronicles of a College Kid.blogspot.com

Serving: 1 Stromboli

• 1 package of Pillsbury French Bread dough
• 1/2 pound of sliced provolone cheese
• 1/2 pound of sliced pepperoni

We usually go to the deli and get fresh cold cuts, but we didn't have time this year.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Then, clear a flat, clean surface to work on.  Open the dough according to package instructions and unroll along the perforations.  Make sure to be very careful with this part, as the dough is pretty thin and pulling or stretching too hard could cause it to tear. 

Once the dough is opened flat, place the slices of cheese on top, covering the entire surface.  Then, do the same with the pepperoni, directly on top of the cheese.

Roll the dough back up very slowly, so that none of the cheese or pepperoni falls out or the dough tears.

Gently press the dough at the ends of the stromboli to make sure that it is completely sealed.  Place on a pan covered with aluminum foil and put into the oven. 

Here’s the tricky part that I mentioned earlier about things being lost in translation…I’m not quite sure how long it takes to cook!  Our family is always so excited for it to come out of the oven, that we are constantly checking on it every five minutes.  We always pull it out once the outside turns a golden brown color.  It seems like an eternity when we are waiting for it, but I’m estimating it probably takes between 30-35 minutes in the oven.

Let it cool for five minutes before slicing.

I wasn’t able to get a picture of the inside of the stromboli before my family ate it all, so here’s a photo of what it should look like:

Photo courtesy of ThePioneerWoman.com

Be sure to set a piece aside for yourself before you serve, because I guarantee it will all be devoured before you can blink!

Everyone flocks



Hiiii Taylor



Norm/Dad/Pop

Leslie - the pickiest eater in the world. If she approves, it MUST be good.

Aunt Kathy!

So here’s my Christmas present to all of you – one of our most beloved family traditions.  Hope it brings as much happiness to your loved ones as it does to mine!

Total time: 45 minutes

P.S. I got some cool new cooking appliances and cookbooks for Christmas, so you can expect some interesting recipes in the future!

Brookies

I recently hosted a large group of my sorority sisters at my house last weekend and wanted to make some snacks for the girls to munch on.  The usual go-to desserts of brownies, cookies, or rice krispie treats popped into my head.  Boring.  Then I remembered an e-mail I had received about a week ago from a lifestyle website called Daily Candy.  The site features news and tips on fashion, beauty, deals, culture, food and drink, home and garden, travel, and gifts.  It is divided by city, so readers can choose the city that is closest to them to find out the latest trends in their area. 

Of course, I am on the mailing list to receive the latest lifestyle tips for readers in the New York City area.  I’m used to reading up on the latest fashion trends, or the grand opening of restaurants and night clubs on the Upper East Side, but last week I received a recipe for Brookies – a “split personality cookie,” as the e-mail described, that combines the best of a brownie and a cookie!  It is a recipe from the new cookbook Clinton Street Baking Company Cookbook, that includes the moist, fudginess of a brownie and the shape and crunch of a chocolate chip cookie.  It sounded delicious and perfect for my occasion.  

Brownies and cookies are classics that everyone loves, but are often overdone.  Combine the two, however, and you have a fresh new twist on old favorites!

Brookies

Adapted recipe and photos by Culinary Chronicles of a College Kid.blogspot.com

Original recipe by Clinton Street Baking Company

Makes 18-20 Brookies

• 1 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. unsalted butter
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cups light brown sugar
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ cup flour
• ¼ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter, oil, and 1 cup of the chocolate chips in the microwave together for about 2.5 – 3 minutes on high heat, stirring at 1-minute intervals.

In a different bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract until combined.  Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.

In another bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients.  Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until evenly combined.  Add the remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips and mix.

Pour this batter into a shallow pan (such as a pie plate) and place in the freezer for 6-8 minutes.

As this is freezing, spray two cookie sheets with nonstick spray.  Once the batter has set and slightly hardened, take it out of the freezer.  Take tablespoon-sized balls of batter out of the pan and place them on the cookie sheet.  Place the brookies into the oven for 11-12 minutes, until the tops look dry and slightly cracked. 

Take out of the oven and let sit for five minutes before placing on a cooling rack.  Let cool for another five minutes before enjoying!

These were a HUGE hit with everyone.  The outside was slightly crispy and the inside was warm and gooey, like a fudgey brownie.  They were devoured in less than ten minutes.

So, if you ever find yourself stressed about whether to make brownies or cookies for an occasion, bake sale, or lazy Saturday treat, you can now follow this recipe instead and enjoy both in one.  You're welcome.

Total time: 25 minutes