All unpacked and ready to go!

Yes, we are unpacked from the big move. My kitchen is up and running. I was looking through my supplies for this weeks TWD: Gooey Chocolate Cakes. And I have everything except sugar.



No sugar! This is a sin. I need sugar. You should never run out of sugar. I have powdered sugar, brown sugar, dark brown sugar, artificial sugar, but no sugar. Well today is shopping day, so I will have to buy sugar.

TWD: Russian Grandmother's Apple-Pie Cake

This week I cannot participate due to an explosion in my home. Not the literal explosion, but the kind that goes along with moving. Maybe it is more correct to say implosion. Anyway, this week Natalie of Burned Bits hosted the challenge, and boy does it look good. I will have to try this recipe soon.

I am heading over to Tuesdays With Dorie to check out all of the cakes and drool. Hopefully I can participate next week. I guess it all depends on how my kitchen will look. Maybe there is an unpacking fairy who will get it done for me! I can always dream...

TWD: Snickery Squares

Sounds yummy. I couldn't wait to make and try these bad boys out! This weeks Tuesdays With Dorie was hosted by Erin of Dinner and Dessert. These tasted like a really expensive version of snickers bars. These really weren't that hard to make and I am very proud to say that I didn't burn the caramel! I came pretty close though.

Snickery Squares

For the Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
2 TBSP powdered sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten


For the Filling:

½ cup sugar
3 TBSP water
1 ½ cups salted peanuts
About 1 ½ cups store-bought dulce de leche


For the Topping:

7 ounces bittersweet, coarsely chopped
½ stick unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, at room temperature



Getting Ready:

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 8 inch square pan and put it on a baking sheet.


To Make the Crust:

Toss the flour, sugar, powdered sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Toss in the pieces of cold butter and pulse about 12 times, until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Pour the yolk over the ingredients and pulse until the dough forms clumps and curds-stop before the dough comes together in a ball.
Turn the dough into the buttered pan and gently press it evenly across the bottom of the pan. Prick the dough with a fork and slide the sheet into the oven.
Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes, or until it takes on just a little color around the edges. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature before filling.


To Make the Filling:

Have a parchment or silicone mat-lined baking sheet at the ready, as well as a long-handled wooden spoon and a medium heavy bottomed saucepan.
Put the sugar and water in the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Keeping the heat fairly high, continue to cook the sugar, without stirring, until it just starts to color. Toss the peanuts and immediately start stirring. Keep stirring, to coat the peanuts with sugar. Within a few minutes, they will be covered with sugar and turn white—keep stirring until the sugar turns back into caramel. When the peanuts are coated with a nice deep amber caramel, remove the pan from the heat and turn the nuts out onto the baking sheet., using the wooden spoon to spread them out as best you can. Cool the nuts to room temperature.
When they are cool enough to handle, separate the nuts or break them into small pieces. Divide the nuts in half. Keep half of the nuts whole or in biggish pieces for the filling, and finely chop the other half for the topping.
Spread the dulce de leche over the shortbread base and sprinkle over the whole candied nuts.


To Make the Topping:

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Remove chocolate from the heat and gently stir in the butter, stirring until it is fully blended into the chocolate.
Pour the chocolate over the dulce de leche, smoothing it with a long metal icing spatula, then sprinkle over the rest of the peanuts. Slide the pan into the fridge to set the topping, about 20 minutes; if you’d like to serve the squares cold, keep them refrigerated for at least 3 hours before cutting.


Cut into 16 bars.

Master Baker: Cinnamon

This is the first month of Master Baker's Challenge. Nikki at Crazy Delicious is, in her own words, a foodie blog event junkie. And, since I am new to the foodie blog event, I decided to jump in to this one with both feet. The rules were quite easy to follow...bake something, anything, that has the chosen ingredient, post about it and link up, send your entry with photo in, and surf around to drool over what everyone else is making. You may even have to bake the wonderful things you see out there out of need to taste them! So beware, your oven may be working overtime!

My entry is a combination of a recipe from my grandmothers recipe box (which is one of my prized possessions that I inherited), and added some of my own tweaks. So what did I make?

Cinnamon Chip Spice Muffins



1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground all spice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
11 TBS unsalted butter, melted
1 cup applesauce
1 pack Cinnamon Chips

Put oven rack n middle position, preheat oven to 400 and grease muffin pan.
Mix first 6 ingredients together and set aside. Beat eggs together with brown sugar. Whisk in butter slowly until mixture is creamy. Stir in applesauce. Fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened. Stir in cinnamon chips and fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes in pan. Remove and enjoy.