Rocky Road Cookies

Canada-ism number 54: In Canada, "Rocky Road" ice cream is sometimes called "Heavenly Hash".

The only explanation I can come up with for this radical change in name is the fact that Heavenly Hash is a pretty fitting name. Hash, (although usually for breakfast and containing potatoes) refers to a mashed up combination of yumminess. In this case, its heavenly. Just go with it.

Actually, I prefer the name Rocky Road. I feel like it just kind of sells itself- chocolate (the road) with pecans and marshmallows (the rocks). Self explanatory, really.

Okay, so you know those yummy little marshmallows that are sitting on top of all the powder when you buy hot chocolate "with marshmallows"? Kraft had a wave of genius and decided to sell the marshmallows all by themself. They're so good. Like SO good. I love 'em. They were the perfect inspiration for these cookies.

Rocky Road Cookies

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup softened butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
2  1/4 cup all purpouse flour
1  1/2 cups chocolate chips (I like dark)
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup Kraft mini marshmallow bits

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees ferenhiet
• Combine sugars, butter and egg in your mixer using cookie paddles
• Add vanilla
• Add flour and baking soda until combined
• Add chocolate chips, pecans, and marshmallows
• Drop by rounded spoonfulls onto a cookie sheet and flatten a little with your palm
• Bake for 8 minutes, or until very lightly browned on top
• Remove from oven and cool on wire rack



-Jessica

Triple Berry Trifle

Do you know what I think of when someone mentions trifle? That episode of "Friends" when Rachel was helping Monica for Thanksgiving dessert. She was making trifle and got the recipe mixed up and added beef, peas and onions. Gross. Unless of course the whipping cream was mashed potatoes. I think I'm on to something...

Anyway, this trifle has much better dessert ingredients. Berries. Pudding. Whipping cream. Let's be honest, people, there is really no way to take those ingredients and mess them up. (Unless you overwhip the cream, with sugar and vanilla already added, and it turns into sweet butter. I did that once. It was good on bagels.)

Best thing about this dessert? It's a snap, even for novice bakers (note..no baking involved!). And it's crazy impressive. People will think you slaved all day. Don't correct them.

Triple Berry Trifle

One store bought angel food cake (you can make it if you feel like it)

2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract (or 1/4 tsp almond oil)

1 box instant vanilla pudding mix

Milk (whatever the pudding box calls for, mine was 3 cups)

1 cup fresh blueberries

2 cups fresh raspberries

3 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

Directions:

• Make pudding according to directions on the box.
• Whip up your cream. After 30 seconds or so, add powdered sugar, vanilla, and almond extract.
• Whip for a few minutes until it forms soft peaks (don't make butter!)
• Combine pudding and whipping cream
• Cut your angel food cake into three layers.
• Slice strawberries and set aside.
• Put one layer of cake into the bottom of a trifle dish.
• Pour pudding mixture on top- about 1 1/2.
• Layer on 1/3 of your berries
• Continue in this pattern, finish with berries on top. Put them on however you think looks pretty.
• Refridgerate until ready to serve!

note: Cool whip would work in place of whipped cream if you are looking for a lower cholesterol option! Use the big container.

-Jessica and Leah

 



 

Chocolate Robin Nests

Sometimes, being Canadian has some pretty awesome perks. Steve Nash, Thanksgiving in October (who wouldn't want it early?), colourful money, dill Pickle AND ketchup flavoured potato chips (UH-MAZE-ING), Jim Carey, Rick Mercer, and one pretty fantastic national anthem. Obviously this could go on and on, feel free to add to this stellar list. What's your favourite Canadian thing?

Back to the point, the awesome Canadian thing I am talking about right now is chocolate. Sometimes I feel really bad for my southern neighbours and their less than perfect chocolate. I love you guys, but your chocolate is sub-par. Around Easter in my neck of the woods, you can get little drops oh heaven, disguised as a chocolate eggs, covered in a perfectly sweet and crunchy candy shell. I'm talking about Mini Eggs. It's not really spring until these delectable and addictive little treats make their way into my kitchen. And living room. Ok fine, and bedroom. I don't even usually like milk chocolate.

I wanted to incorporate these into a dessert, and I do have a whole bunch of ideas, but yesterday I had a little 5 year old helper. We thought this would be a pretty fun Easter snack.

This is your typical no-bake oatmeal cookie recipe. Mine calls for coconut, but my friend told me she uses peanut butter instead. I used pb this time, and prefer the coconut, but my hubby really liked it this way.

Chocolate Robin Nests

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup peanut butter OR coconut
• 6 tbsp cocoa
• 3 cups quick oats
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 pack or mini eggs (or whatever you can find at the store)

Line 2 cookie sheets with tinfoil and set aside.
Boil your butter, milk and sugar for 2 mins. Add vanilla.
Remove from heat and quickly add remaining ingredients.
Drop by the tablespoon onto the cookie sheets and form into nest shapes.
Add your eggs or candy right away so they will stick to the nest.
Refridgerate until firm. Store in fridge.

-Jessica

Skor Caramel Brownies

Sunday night dinners have been a thing with Matt's family ever since we got married 6 years ago. I truly love these dinners, for the following reasons:
 a) I love Matt's family. They are the amazing in-laws to me and grandparents to my boys. They are just  plain fun.
b) I don't have to cook (because it's no secret that I would much rather bake than cook).
c) My mom-in-law is a fab cook. Really truly great.
d) I am in charge of dessert. I try not to repeat, unless by request, so it means I try new things out once a week. Plus, I take it out of my house and to someone else's, which helps my self control. Slightly.

This week, the only request was for chocolate cake from my 5 year old. I was going to, too, but when I looked I discovered that we were out of powdered sugar, and you can't very well have a decent chocolate cake without frosting. In keeping with the chocolate theme (I wasn't about to go and break any hearts, now), I decided on brownies instead. Ooey-gooey, slap-in-the-face delicious. These have a layer of creamy caramel and skor bits sandwiched between fudge-like chocolate chip brownies. Not a bad end to the weekend.

Skor Caramel Brownies

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1  1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup pre-made caramel sauce
• 3/4 cup Skor baking bits

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees ferenheit.
-Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl.
-Add sugar and vanilla and stir until smooth.
-Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
-Stir together flour, cocoa and salt.
-Add to butter mixture.
-Fold in chocolate chips until combined.
-Spray a 9x9 baking dish with non-stick spray.
-Pour in half of the brownie batter.
-Pour on caramel and sprinkle Skor bits on top.
-Top with remaning brownie batter and bake for 35-45 minutes.
-Let sit for at least 15 minutes before digging in.
-Serve with vanilla ice cream or a cold glass of milk!

-Jessica

Lemon Bars

Have I mentioned I love lemon? I may have. Like in my previous post. This is the beginning of a lemon addiction, I tell you. Just so you're prepared.

I wasn't even planning on making these today. I was going to make a chocolate pie, because my book club is discussing "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett today, and if you've read it, you know why I should make that pie. But then I was walking through the grocery store and these lemons jumped into my cart. It was really quite phenomenal. I've never before seen fruit that can move of its own accord, but I tell you, these lemons did. 2 hours later these were in my oven. It's a pretty good thing I have somewhere to bring them tonight, because if I didn't, I would be eating them all. The hubs doesn't get my love affair with cirtus fruit. Anyway, I will make a chocolate pie later, I promise. But for today, I'm sticking with these. They grow lemons in Mississippi, right?

Pinterest was good to me. I found several recipies that looked good, but I liked the look of these from here.

-Jessica

Snowflake Cookies

What says Christmas more than a snowflake sugar cookie? Well, if you lived on the East Coast, or even somewhere in the middle of North America, this would probably make sense. But for us west-coasters, we need to fake it. Yes, even in Canada. Here, in the lovely city of Victoria, the average snowfall per year is 26 centimetres (which is less than one foot). Vancouver and Seattle are probably around the same. So we make snow in cookies instead. Some may even prefer it this way.

Amanda and I spend the better part of a weekend making these sparkling little flakes, and it was well worth the effort. They are delicious. And pretty. Your friends, co-workers, and families will be happy. I promise.

Sugar Cookies

1  1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
5 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

- Cream butter and sugar until smooth
- Beat in your eggs and vanilla
- Mix in the flour, baking powder and salt
- Divide in two and chill in refridgerator for at least one hour
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees ferenheit
- Roll out on a floured surface, and cut out with Christmassy cookie cutters
- Bake for 6- 8 minutes, allow to cool on wire rack

Sugar Cookie Icing

One package of powdered sugar
Water
Food colouring gel
OR
Your favourite royal icing recipe

- Put the powdered sugar in a big bowl and add water until it's thick enough to pipe around the edge of the cookies. You will want it about as thick as royal icing.
- Divide into bowls, one for each colour- save some white to pipe patterns on top
- Put in piping bag (I like a #3 piping tip) or ziplock pag with a small snip in the corner
- Pipe around edges of cookie and allow to dry
- Once all cookies are piped, water down the icing until it's fairly soft, about the consistency of      whipping cream. Make sure to save some thick so you can pipe a pattern on top
- Using a small spoon, fill cookies and allow to dry
- Pipe a pretty pattern on top of the dried snowflakes.

-Jessica

Peppermint Dark and White Chocolate Bark

Once, a few years ago, my sister-in-law and I were all set to do some Christmas baking. Aprons on, oven on, Christmas music on. Ready, set, go. She has an out-of-this-world candy cane cookie recipe. We had the dough mixed up, ready for the candy. So, I opened the box of candy canes, rolling pin in hand, ready to smash them all to bits. Which I did. For some reason, I love smashing things. Like in Super Smash Brothers. But that's a different story.

Anyhoo, during the candy cane smashing process, some candy wound up in my mouth. I don't really know how it happened. BUT- it wasn't peppermint. They sure looked like candy canes, the box definitely said peppermint on it. but there was no flavour. It was just sugar. No mint. I tasted another cane. No mint. The whole box was like this. It was bizarre, I suppose they just forgot to add the flavouring. I wonder how many boxed turned out that that. So now, out of habit I suppose, I always check my candy canes before using them. These ones are definitely peppermint. Make sure yours are too!

Peppermint Bark

12 ounces dark chcolate, chopped
12 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 box peppermint candy canes, crushed

-Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil
-In a double boiler, melt dark chocolate. Mix in about half of the candy canes. Spread in bottom of the pan. Let chocolate cool until not quite hardened. If you're in a hurry, stick in the fridge, or outside if it's cold enough. I put mine on the deck.

-Melt white chocolate. Pour over the dark. Sprinkle with remaining candy canes. Run a butter knife over top to create a marbled effect. Let harden completely. Break into pieces.

-Jessica

Peanut Butter Chocolate Skor Bark

Some mornings, I wake up, take 35 seconds to shower, hap-hazardly throw cereal into bowls, quickly pack lunches, and attempt to make sure that the boys hair is at least somewhat flat on their heads before rushing out the door for school. Some mornings, I remember to set my alarm so that I am showered, dressed, the house is cleaned, and a warm breakfast is waiting on the table by the time everyone else is up. And some mornings, I wake up with baking on the brain. I can think of nothing else. Which means else nothing gets done. Those days are good and bad. Bad, because it means I am wearing sweats for the school drop off (which we are a good 10 minutes late for), the house is a disaster, along with the kids hair of course, and breakfast was most likely a cereal bar and a quick chug of milk. Good, because when everyone gets home, the snack that day is awesome. And most likely the dessert. And, on really good days, dinner too.

But you see, it's not really my fault. Food has this way of burrowing itself inside my head. I can't help it if it makes other things leave in its place. Things like common sense. For example, telling my husband who is dressing the children that no, camoflauge pants do not match with cowboy boots. Or that it's not a good idea to play house under the baby's crib while he is still sleeping in it.

Well, today was one of those days. In my defense, it is December now which means Christmas baking. Lots of Christmas baking. It's 2:00 pm and breakfast dishes are still on the table. Shameful. But it was worth it in the end. I filled 6 tins today. So there.

Happy Baking!



Peanut Butter and Skor Bit Bark

10 ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup salted peanuts
1 1/4 cup skor baking bits
8 ounces milk chocolate, chopped

-Melt dark chocolate in a double boiler, or in a stainless steel bowl over a pot of water. Set aside 2 tbsp for later. Pour the rest into a foiled 9x9 inch pan. Let cool in the fridge until hardened.
- Melt white chocolate and peanut butter in a double boiler. Remove from heat. Stir in peanuts. Let cool for about 10 mins, then pour on the hardened dark chocolate. Sprinkle with about half of the skor bits. Let cool again.
- Melt milk chocolate in a double boiler. Pour on top of the cooled bark. Sprinkle with remaining skor bits. Reheat the reserved dark chocolate and drizzle over the top with a spoon. Let cool completely in the fridge and cut up however you like.

-Jessica