Kathleen Siegle

Chocolate Alfajor Cupcakes

January 6, 2014

So…these cupcakes are no joke. Evident by the rich chocolate frosting swirled with straight dulce de leche, it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. Shield your eyes New Year’s resolutioners! This little treat is going to make you cheat for sure. I don’t know if you’ve baked much with the Alfajor cookie or if many of you have tasted one. My father is from Buenos Aires, Argentina so I grew up on these things. Along with dulce de leche and comforting Yerba Mate tea. The utterly delicious Alfajor is two soft cookies sandwiched with dulce de leche. The best kind are dipped in dark chocolate, just like the ones I used.

The particular brand I used for these Chocolate Alfajor Cupcakes was Havanna. They come wrapped in this beautiful gold foil like a little gift waiting to be unwrapped. Trust me, these will not stay wrapped once you get your hands on these. Of all the Alfajor cookies I have tried, these are by far the most delicious and moist. They bake perfectly in a cupcake. I purchased them from Gaucho Direct, an online marketplace for Argentinian goods. Here you can buy these cookies along with other goods including Yerba Mate. It’s also very easy to browse different types of Yerba Mate plucked from different regions.

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Chewy Pomegranate Chocolate Chip Cookies

January 1, 2014

For Christmas I got lots of goodies. A wonderful Ninja food processor, cookbooks, baking utensils, and comfy pajamas. One of my favorite gifts from my mother was a huge bag of Brookside pomegranate fruit pieces covered in dark chocolate. These are so rich and so good it made me wonder if I could use them to give chocolate chip cookies a nice little twist. Hmmmm…chewy pomegranate chocolate chip cookies. Sounds good to me!

The candies are rather large so I chopped them up so they would distribute evenly in the dough. In addition to a heaping two cups of chocolate chips, I added the cup of chopped chocolate covered pomegranate pieces. Even after baking, the pomegranate stayed nice and chewy. I also used whole wheat flour to give it a nice texture as well. These pomegranate chocolate chip cookies are full of antioxidants and super indulgent. It takes a little bit of the guilt away. Just a little bit.

Chewy Pomegranate Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 cup chopped dark chocolate pomegranate pieces

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375.
Combine flour with baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
Cream together butter and sugars.
Add eggs one at a time and vanilla.
Gradually mix in flour.
Stir in chocolate chips and chopped chocolate pomegranate pieces.
Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Recipe adapted from Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.

Baked Cinnamon French Toast

December 28, 2013

I don’t know about you but at our house we try to start our Christmas morning early. That means mommy needs to get up pretty darn early to get breakfast and coffee going for the family. This year I slept in. How? By making breakfast the night before. Amazing. So easy. And stinking delicious. I got the recipe for this Baked Cinnamon French Toast off Pinterest. Thank the Lord for Pinterest. The recipe calls for challah bread, which I used, but any bread will work. Next time I’m totally getting the challah with raisins. The recipe is from Lovin’ From The Oven.

Baked Cinnamon French Toast

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Ingredients

1 loaf of challah or crusty bread
8 whole eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick cold butter cubed

Instructions

Grease a 9x13 glass pan or nonstick pan.
Tear the loaf of bread into bit size pieces and place in greased pan.
Mix together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla.
Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate over night.
To make the streusel mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Use a fork to cut the butter into the flour sugar mixture until crumbly. Sprinkle over egg soaked bread right before baking.
Preheat oven to 350.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Serve with whipped cream and powdered sugar or maple syrup.

Christmas was a hit at our house. Oliver was super happy with his toys, Jovi was ecstatic about wrapping paper, my husband received lots of Star Wars goodies, and I got a really awesome food processor. I was in desperate need of a larger model. The one I currently was using only allowed for 3 cups at a time so I was always having to blend everything in batches. Not fun. And very messy. I’m so excited to try some new recipes and now that Florida will finally get some cold weather I really want to tackle some soups I’ve been eyeing Pinterest. Or make massive amounts of cookie dough. Cookie dough sounds good.

Snowflake Sugar Cookies

December 25, 2013

I bake quite a lot but I can honestly say that decorating sugar cookies totally intimidates me. One little sway of hand and it looks like my three year old took over. That’s why I usually stick with drop or thumbprint cookies. So I longingly browse other baking blogs that showcase incredible decorating skills. I’m absolutely in love with what Bridget over at Bake at 350 does with her cookies. If you haven’t seen her site please go look at her beautiful creations. Every one of her posts amaze me. I’m so envious!

So until I muster up the courage and dive into her world I created these simple snowflake sugar cookies. The recipe comes from her website and makes a firm dough that’s perfect for rolling out and cutting shapes with, yet the cookies come out really soft and flavorful when baked. I drizzled the sweet royal icing over the cookies with two piping bags filled with white and aqua. They’re cute, yummy, and perfect with hot cocoa or tea. Santa has come and gone so what does that mean? More cookies for us!

Simple Royal Icing

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Ingredients

2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
Blue gel food coloring

Instructions

Beat egg whites and lemon juice with electric mixer until fully combined
On low speed mix in powdered sugar until smooth and glossy
If icing is a little think mix in a little water
Separate in two batches and mix 2-3 drops of blue gel food coloring to the shade you desire to one batch.

Simple Royal Icing

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Ingredients

2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
Blue gel food coloring

Instructions

Beat egg whites and lemon juice with electric mixer until fully combined
On low speed mix in powdered sugar until smooth and glossy
If icing is a little think mix in a little water
Separate in two batches and mix 2-3 drops of blue gel food coloring to the shade you desire to one batch.

Snowflake sugar cookies adapted from Bake at 350 and Royal Icing recipe adapted from Joy of Baking.

To decorate just lightly drizzle each color of icing at an angle on each cookie. You can use a zip lock baggie and cut a little hole in the corner or two piping bags. Once the icing hardens they’re ready to eat. If you’re patient enough!

Peppermint Brownie Cookie Sandwiches

December 24, 2013

Christmas is almost here! My family lives in Orlando, Florida and the temperature in December barely dips below 75 degrees. We hardly get to wear our scarves or bundle up in warm coats. Once in a while Florida will hit a mild cold front and so we indulge in hot cocoa. It’s the only way for it to “feel” like Christmas. Since beautifully cold winter weather is a rarity in my case, a hot beverage usually is not very comforting. Today’s forecast was a high of 84! Really?! Sigh…

So instead of sweating while I insist on drinking my favorite hot cocoa, I made it into a cookie sandwich. A brownie cookie sandwich to be exact. These peppermint brownie cookie sandwiches are amazing and if you’re planning on indulging in one or a few, a tall glass of milk is a must. The dark chocolate brownie cookies are perfectly rich and chewy. Imagine the fudgy part of the brownie with a light crisp layer on top. They are stuffed with a light marshmallow fluff frosting then rolled in crushed peppermint candies. Who needs winter? This recipe makes 12 peppermint brownie cookie sandwiches.

Peppermint Hot Cocoa Brownie Cookie Sandwiches

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Ingredients

Brownie Cookies
1 cup chopped dark chocolate
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 eggs
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Marshmallow Frosting
1 7 oz jar of marshmallow fluff
2 sticks of softened butter
3/4 cup - 1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
In a medium saucepan melt the chopped chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat until fully melted and combined.
Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in a separate bowl.
Add the melted chocolate, flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder mixing until well blended.
Refrigerate dough for about 20 minutes (so its firm enough to scoop or form into balls).
Spoon the dough onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the tops start to make that brownie crackle.
While the cookies cool beat together the jar of marshmallow fluff and softened butter until fluffy.
Begin to add the powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time tasting as you go to see if its sweetened to your liking.
Mix in vanilla at the end.
Assemble sandwiches by piping frosting on the back of one cookie then sandwiching them together.
Lastly roll assembled sandwiches in the crushed peppermint.

Recipe adapted from Donna Hay

These turned out fantastic! One of my favorite flavor combinations is dark chocolate and peppermint and if your’e like me these are not gonna last. They are crazy good!

Some more holiday treats:

Peppermint Hot Cocoa Brownies