fall food

Fall is my favorite time of year, but I never felt like I had one when I lived in Southern California. The natives will disagree, but there is no such thing as seasons in SoCal. Sure, there are those rare days when the temperature dips below 75 degrees or the sun refuses to shine, but there are no distinct seasons. 

Fall was much too short in Green Bay, but I was grateful for it anyway. One minute I was admiring the fall foliage and then suddenly, the trees were bare. But I made the most of it! Fall is the time for pumpkin, of course. I made these pumpkin pie bars, from Food & Wine. I had intended to make these last year, but then the job market happened, and I just didn't have the time. They don't look like much, but they were phenomenal. 

In my opinion (but not Drew's, who does not share my pumpkin enthusiasm), I took it easy on the pumpkin this fall. In addition to the pumpkin pie bars, I made a pumpkin cake with maple cream cheese frosting, pumpkin pecan scones with a brown butter glaze, pumpkin pancakes, and a pumpkin loaf (but that wasn't very good so I'm not linking to the recipe). 

I also made a cinnamon ice cream, which seems very fall-like, and I'm trying to remember why. 

I believe that this was an effort to replicate Drew's favorite Ben and Jerry's flavors, Oatmeal Cookie Chunk. It was mostly successful; the ice cream was amazing, but the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies weren't. 

salted caramel brownies

Caramel is my nemesis, and I get it right only about 50% of the time. Yet, I keep at it, hoping to perfect it and also because sometimes I have a hankering for caramel brownies and just can't bring myself to make them with store bought caramels or caramel sauce (though I will confess that I had a moment of weakness and desperation and almost caved and bought the Ghirardelli caramel turtle brownie mix). 

Anyway, I made salted caramel brownies, from the Smitten Kitchen blog. As expected, I messed up the caramel before getting it right. Turns out that it needs your undivided attention and you can't multitask and make granola at the same time. 

I'm so glad I didn't cave and buy the mix. These brownies are super good, and while I kind of wish I could share them with you, I kind of like having them (almost) all to myself (I do have to share with Drew).

pumpkin pie bars

The other day, I made pumpkin pie bars, also known as The Last Thing I Will Ever Bake in California. 

We are slowly cleaning out our cupboards, and I found a can of pumpkin that I intended to use last fall. But then the job market happened, so I put these pumpkin pie bars on hold. But then the dissertation happened. And then packing happened. But in spite of it all, the pumpkin pie bars finally happened. 

The recipe is from Joy the Baker. The crust is excellent and could be eaten on its own (I think that's the only reason Drew tolerated the pumpkin part). Next time, I'm going to use Joy's crust recipe and try out the filling recipe from Food and Wine (which is probably what I had intended to do last fall judging by the can of evaporated milk in the cupboard). And the best thing about the next time is that I will enjoy these bars as pumpkin was intended to be enjoyed: in cool, crisp fall weather.  

chocolate chip cookie dough layer cake

A week and a half ago, after spending nearly an entire year in China, Drew came home. 

To welcome him home, I baked a chocolate chip cookie dough layer cake. The cake layers are a white cake, and the frosting is a vanilla French buttercream. Both recipes are from Baking Illustrated. The filling is a chocolate chip cookie dough, from Bite Me More.

This cake is quite a showstopper. It was very good and quite possibly the best cake I've ever made. It might even be better than the Brown Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake I made a few years ago, which is the cake against which I measure all other cakes, but I can't decide. 

devil's food cake with whipped cream and strawberries

Do you remember that movie with Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhaal? Stranger Than Fiction? I forget what it's about, and all I remember is this scene where Ferrell courts Gyllenhaal (a law student turned baker) with a bunch of flours. Not flowers, but flours. Get it? Very clever.

I am reminded of this scene because I am slowly whittling away my own flour collection. So far, I've managed to use up rye flour, hazelnut flour, and whole wheat pastry flour, but self rising flour, Italian 00 flour, chickpea flour, almond flour, whole wheat flour, and of course, all purpose flour, remain. And until yesterday, there was cake flour.    

My running friends ran a 10K this morning. I skipped out on the race but met up with them for a potluck-birthday-celebration-brunch. Whenever we have potlucks, I am in charge of dessert.  

The birthday girl requested chocolate and strawberries, and so I delivered. I was on the fence, going back and forth between the recipe from Chocolate Cakes or Baking Illustrated. I went with the former, largely because it meant using up the rest of my cake flour. The filling is from the Pioneer Woman. 

I snapped this picture before heading over to my friend's place, and it was a good thing I did. As I assembled the cake, I thought to myself "There is no way this is going to survive the 20 minute drive to Laguna Niguel." And I was right. Just as I accelerated to get onto the 405, a guy began to cross in front of me, on foot, forcing me to slam on my brakes. Fortunately, he took about 2 steps and then turned back, but it was still a little unnerving. It is generally a good idea to look both ways before darting across a freeway entrance (or really, any street). 

Anyway, the top cake layer slid off the bottom one, but nobody cared about the presentation. The cake was nice and tender, and everyone loved it.     

rum raisin bars and cranberry-orange-walnut scones

My general pattern with baking with alcohol is as follows: buy liquor for a specific recipe, use a couple tablespoons, shove the remaining liquor to the back of one of my baking shelves (yes, I have so many baking ingredients that they take up 3 shelves), and promptly forget about said liquor.

Lately though, my baking motto around here is "add booze." About a month ago, I took inventory of my kitchen, making mental notes of everything that needs to be used up by the end of July. I found near-full bottles of bourbon, rum, amaretto, and frangelico. Since then, I've been frantically trying to use up the liquor, which is tough to do without simply drinking it. 

So, I made a chocolate amaretto cake from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook . I also added rum to pumpkin bread and pineapple upside-down cake. I've added bourbon to blondies and banana bread. And sometimes, I just pour frangelico into a shot glass and just sip it (it's the only one of the four that I'll drink). I'm doing my best to bake with the booze, and I'm waiting for Drew to come home so I can make him this Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake (he doesn't read my blog, so I'm not worried that he'll find out).

Last weekend, I made rum raisin bars from the Fat Witch Brownies cookbook. Not at all too heavy and not overpowering, these were quite good. 

Okay, I'm not adding booze to everything around here. I also made cranberry-orange-walnut scones, from Vegan with a Vengeance. I think Drew would be proud of me for taking some liberties in baking these. I added dried cranberries and toasted walnuts, and I substituted oats for half of the flour in an effort to make the scones healthy and appropriate for breakfast.

I broke the "add booze" rule because they were for my breakfasts this week and I thought it would be wrong to eat something with alcohol in it at 7 in the morning. 

confessions

All right, it's about time I come clean. I've been keeping something from you. Well, two somethings. 

One is my recent vanilla bean discovery. Okay, to be clear, I didn't discover vanilla beans, obviously. I mean, I started using vanilla beans in my baking, and I'm not sure I can go back to the extract. It all started last August when I got tired of shelling out $5 for a 4 ounce bottle of vanilla extract (and that's at Trader Joe's, where it's the cheapest!). I learned about making homemade vanilla extract here, so I decided to buy myself some cheap vodka, make it myself, and save some money. I ordered a bunch of vanilla beans off of Amazon, but then the job market happened and I forgot all about using them. And I continued shelling out $5 for vanilla. Then, about a month ago, I ran out of extract and finally got around to using a few vanilla beans and making some extract. It's embarrassing that it took me so long, because using vanilla beans is super easy (split in half and scrape out the seeds) and so is making extract (rinse 3 spent beans and put in a jar of cheap vodka). Anyway, using vanilla beans in my baking instead of extract is life changing. It's so amazing. 

And speaking of life changing, I got a job. I'll be starting next fall at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay. The academic job market is tough, and the stars certainly aligned for me. This job is a really good fit for me, both professionally and personally, and that doesn't happen a whole lot. If you pursue an academic job, you are at the mercy of location. For the most part, you don't get to choose where you live. You really can't say to yourself, "I'll work in Dallas, Texas and nowhere else" because if you restrict yourself too much geographically, it's unlikely you'll get a job. It's not like applying to college or even graduate school, or like applying to most jobs. Turnover is low, and jobs are very specialized. Imagine, for example, that instead of posting an ad that says "Now hiring," Target posted an ad that said "Now hiring an associate to work in the kitchen section, specializing in pots and pans." You might be thinking, well, someone working in electronics surely has the skills to transfer to the kitchen section, but that's not the case because someone who's spent the past 7 years or so specializing in electronics would not be qualified to sell pots and pans. 

So anyway, I'm glad to have a job and I'm glad to have one that's such a good fit. I'm excited about the position and joining my future colleagues, and I'm glad to finally get back to having real winters! There are many things I'll miss about California, but for many other reasons, it's time to move on.   

funfetti cookies

You know that 'birthday cake' flavor? 

I love it. 

I don't know why. 

For some reason, I've never tried to emulate it at home. Until now.

I stumbled across this recipe for Funfetti cookies. I had the feeling that they might be like the birthday cake flavor I adore, and I was right. Apparently, the secret is a combination of vanilla extract and almond extract. 

Well, guess it's not such a secret now.

I really liked these cookies. They were soft and buttery, and I know sprinkles are weird and artificial, but they're so festive and fun! These cookies were a great way to use them up. 

  

raspberry cheesecake brownies

I love cheesecake brownies, but oddly, I don't make them that often. I had a craving for them last week and so I had to make them. The recipe is from Baking Illustrated, and the raspberry addition is my own (I dolloped raspberry jam alongside the cream cheese mixture). These are really good, but there's just not enough cream cheese mixture, but fortunately, the raspberry jam makes up for it,  

chocolate kahlua cake

I don't know how this happened, but somehow, I ended up with a bottle of Kahlua. I don't know where it came from. Maybe leftover from a party a long time ago? 

I do know, however, how I ended up with rum, amaretto, brandy, and hazelnut liqueur. Sometimes I bake with booze*, but I end up with a lot of leftovers because 1) recipes don't call for that much alcohol and 2) Drew and I don't really drink at home (unless it's wine for me). 

But back to the mystery Kahlua. 

As I mentioned in the previous post, I'm moving and I'm trying to clean out the kitchen. I tasted the Kahlua, and it was still good (full disclosure: I tasted it after drinking a glass of wine), so I decided that I had to use it. I did some quick browsing on the internet to see what kinds of things I could bake with Kahlua. I came across this recipe, and while I normally don't just dive into recipes by unknown blogs (uh, unknown by me, that is) without some sleuthing, I made an exception because it called for 3/4 of a cup of Kahlua, and guess what? That's exactly how much Kahlua I had. 

It was fate.

Or destiny.

Or whatever.

The Collegiate Baker's recipe is for a layer cake with frosting and chocolate curls, which looks lovely, but I made mini cakes instead because they are easier to share. As I was mixing the ingredients, I thought to myself "This better be good; I'm using the fancy cocoa powder!" And it was; the Kahlua was subtle, and the cake was rich and chocolate-y.

*I bake with bourbon too, but I must bake with it more frequently because there never seem to be leftovers. 

frosted sugar cookies

I have a confession to make.

You know those frosted sugar cookies packaged up in plastic and decorated with their seasonal sprinkles? 

I love them. 

Shhhhh. 

I'm not sure where the fascination comes from. I think they're tied to memories of Girl Scout camp, when I was a counselor. I think I ate my fair share in the staff house. 

And now, I see them taunting me in Target, but I find the willpower to resist. I'm always tempted, but I just can't buy them. I try my best to steer clear of pre-packaged foods with ingredients I can't pronounce and these cookies have so many preservatives that they last long enough to go on sale long after the holiday they were intended for has passed. 

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I found a recipe and immediately made them. A lot of them. The recipe calls for one stick of butter, and upon seeing this, I thought 1) whoa, only one stick of butter? and 2) whoa, since when did I become Paula Deen? 

I loved these cookies. They're soft and fluffy, and hit the spot. 

orange pecan brown sugar cookies

Big Fat Cookies was one of the first cookbooks I ever purchased. 

During my last year in college, my roommates and I used to go to the Barnes and Noble in uh, Roseville, I think, to study. One of the big draws was that this Barnes and Noble also sold used books, which were a lot of fun to peruse when I took study breaks. 

The cookbooks at this Barnes and Noble were located near the restrooms, so I passed by them a lot during my visits. I was just getting into cooking and baking, so I usually stopped to browse, but since money was tight, I usually restricted my purchases to the used book section. For some reason, Big Fat Cookies caught my eye, and after passing by it more than once, I finally gave in and bought it.  

This is a great cookbook. In the beginning, I used to make the cookies big and fat, but I eventually stopped because they were, well, too big and fat (now I just make them a normal size). I even remember the first thing I made: Chocolate Chip Stuffed Cookies. That was a long time ago, but I still turn to this cookbook when I'm in the mood to bake cookies. And when I'm not in the mood to bake cookies, I turn to Elinor Klivans' other cookbooks: the Cupcakes! cookbook, the Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook, or Chocolate Cakes.

I first made orange pecan brown sugar cookies back in December, and my friend loved them. In fact, he was the one who reminded me of when I first made them because I couldn't remember. It was his birthday earlier this week (we're birthday buddies!) and he requested these. I happily complied, and they were a big hit at his birthday party. 

strawberry cake

Whenever I go to a bakery and order a strawberry cupcake, I'm always disappointed. "Strawberry" cupcakes just taste like a vanilla cupcake with strawberry buttercream. Frustrated, I decided to finally just make my own, but last weekend, I discovered 2 things: First, it is nearly impossible to find a recipe for strawberry cake that 1) does not call for jello or a cake mix, or 2) is not actually a recipe for strawberry shortcake. I used this blog recipe, but I was reluctant to do so because 1) I dislike using recipes from just any blog, and 2) the name of the blog was utterly ridiculous (Confessions of a Foodie Bride). Second, strawberry cake is surprisingly difficult to make. I mean, it's not the technique that's difficult. What's difficult is getting a strawberry cake to actually taste like strawberry. 

As suggested, I reduced the strawberries in an effort to get a more concentrated strawberry flavor. It didn't work. There was pretty much no strawberry flavor. In fact, when Drew tasted the cake scraps (yes, I'm anal and trim the layers so they're level- this is called torting), he said "Man, it really is hard to get a strawberry cake to taste like strawberry." It sure is. 

To frost the cake, I made an Italian buttercream, with leftover strawberry puree mixed into it. Usually, I make buttercream the easy way- just butter and confectioner's sugar. But last year, I was watching an episode of the Worst Cooks in America on the Food Network, and this renowned pastry chef was teaching the contestants how to bake a cake. All I remember is him saying "Real buttercream is not that crap with butter and powdered sugar." Or something to that extent (I don't think he would say 'crap').

And so, I decided to make a proper buttercream. The recipe is from Cakelove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch. The author is Warren Brown, a lawyer turned baker, who owns the Cakelove bakeries in D.C. (Fun Fact: When Drew worked in D.C. a few summers ago, he lived just a few blocks from Cakelove and we used to go there and get cupcakes.)

I rarely use the Cakelove cookbook, but that's not because I don't like it- I do. This cookbook rarely leaves the bookshelf because the cakes are kind of fancy and the recipes are a bit too high maintenance. When I use this cookbook, it is for special occasions, like birthdays. And it was my friend's birthday, so I felt it appropriate to break open Cakelove.

To make the buttercream, first you have to whip 5 egg whites to make a meringue. Okay, you're not really doing that- the stand mixer is doing that for you. While that's happening, you make a sugar syrup and when that reaches 245 degrees, you slowly pour it into the meringue while the stand mixer is running at high speed. Yeah, crazy, I know. In fact, when I did this the first time, I wasn't wearing an oven mitt and the syrup splashed and burned one of my fingers. Profanity ensued. After the sugar syrup is mixed in, you add a pound of butter, one pat at a time, with the mixer at about medium speed. When all the butter is mixed in, you crank up the speed to high for a minute or two, until the butter is fully incorporated. 

If you were paying attention, you noticed that it took me 2 tries to successfully make Italian buttercream. I almost gave up after the first try (I burned my finger!), but I'm glad I didn't. The buttercream is light and fluffy, and it tasted so, so good (and that was before I stirred in the strawberry puree). It is superior to the powdered sugar crap in many ways (not only did it taste better, it was also easier to work with), and I'm not sure I'll ever go back. 

As for the cake itself, it was good even though I didn't detect any strawberry flavor. My friend was happy with her birthday cake, and so was everyone else at her party.

triple chocolate brownies

Last weekend, Drew and I went to Surfas, this restaurant supply store. To us, it was like being kids in a candy store. We walked up and down every aisle, and we even ate lunch in the café. In addition to selling merchandise such as dishes, pots, and pans, Surfas also sold gourmet food products that aren't found in normal grocery stores. We found fancy pastas, cheeses, spices, and chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

 

We splurged on Vahlrona cocoa powder and Callebaut semi sweet chocolate. All the different brands and types of chocolate are sold as cocoa powder, discs, chips, and blocks. Even 10 pound blocks.

We were sensible and did not purchase 10 pounds of chocolate, and instead we got the more reasonable one pound block.

 

When we got home, I immediately made brownies. The recipe is from Baking Illustrated (from the geniuses behind the magazine Cooks Illustrated), and it calls for 3 kinds of chocolate: unsweetened, semi sweet, and cocoa powder.

These are quite possibly the best brownies ever. They're nice and fudgy, and they have a perfectly crackly top. Drew and I decided that splurging on good quality chocolate was totally worth it. Though we could not detect an appreciable difference between the Callebaut chocolate and the blocks we get from Trader Joe's, we could easily tell that the Vahlrona cocoa powder, which smelled almost smoky when I opened it, not surprisingly proved to be much better than Hershey's or Trader Joe's (which is probably the same thing anyway).

 

In 10 days, Drew is leaving tp spend a year in China. Until then, I will be baking with chocolate. Lots of it. 

red velvet cake balls

I resisted cake pops (or cake balls) for a long time, dismissing them as a stupid fad, and quietly waiting for some other pastry trend to take off (I think donuts might be the next big thing, but I'm still waiting for pie). I didn't understand them- are cake pops like mini-cupcakes, and if so, why do we need cake pops in addition to cupcakes?  

It didn't help that my impression of cake pops was based purely on Bakerella, who commits two of what I consider to be baking crimes. The first is the use of cake mixes and canned frosting. Okay, I admit that I'm not being completely fair- she does bake from scratch and posts recipes that don't involve cake mixes. However, when I flipped through her cookbook and her blog, I was disappointed by the use of cake mix and canned frosting. If you have a baking blog, using pre-packaged mixes and foods should be shunned (the taste and quality is inferior and it's not really baking) and damages your credibility. 

Okay, moving on. 

The second is that Bakerella's focus when it comes to cake pops seems to be about making them not look like cake pops, and I am against this. Sure, they look cute, but I dislike efforts to make cake not look like cake because then the cake isn't about the cake at all, which is why I'm eating the cake in the first place. Do you follow? Cake decorating detracts from the taste of the cake, which you already know because you know that wedding cakes are notorious for tasting like crap. When a cake is decorated to not look like cake, how the cake looks is prioritized over how it tastes, and even though I'm guilty of enjoying cake decorating shows on the Food Network and those cakes look super cool, they cannot possibly taste good. Also, why is it that cake is like the only food that is made to look like something else? I mean, when's the last time you ate a hamburger that was made to look like a rocket?     

Ha! Yeah, I thought so.

And so, I resisted cake pops until a few weeks ago. Drew and I were at the Crystal Cove Promenade to grocery shop at Trader Joe's, but then I saw a sign for the Sweet and Saucy Shop and of course we had to go immediately. There was an array of cupcakes, cookies, and tarts, but for some strange reason, I was drawn to the cake pops. If ever there was a time to give in to cake pops, I thought to myself, it's now. So I did, and so did Drew. And they were super good.

And then I vowed to make them myself. Cake pops are easy to make, but there are several steps, so advance planning is necessary. First, I baked the cake and made the frosting. On that same day, when the cake was cool, I crumbled it up and mixed it with the frosting. Then the mixture went into the refrigerator overnight and I shaped the cake balls the next day. On day 3, I dipped the balls in melted chocolate, and after an hour in the fridge, they were ready to go.

The recipe is from the Liddabit Sweets Candy Cookbook. I made the red velvet cake and the vanilla frosting (cream cheese frosting is customary with red velvet, but Drew is not a fan). I don't normally make red velvet cake (it's just chocolate cake, people!!!), but I made these for Drew's proposal defense. Since his dissertation is on China, the cake balls were meant to resemble the Chinese flag. That is, until I botched the yellow coating- twice. Fortunately, we had a block of dark chocolate in the cupboard and I used that instead.     

Liddabit actually calls these cake amazeballs, and for good reason. They are really, really good. Cake balls are more dense than regular cake (because the frosting is mixed in), and they're almost like cake truffles. I'm really glad that I gave cake balls a chance, and I'm already trying to figure out what kind I'm going to bake next.  

* This post began as a discussion on cake pops, but you'll see that I actually made cake balls instead. I found the sticks to be unnecessary and even wasteful, so that's why I went with the balls instead.       

chocolate almond biscotti

When I think of biscotti, I think of hard, inedible, stale cookies. I'm afraid that if I ever ate the biscotti I see in coffeeshops, I would crack a tooth. I really don't find biscotti appealing, and though (I believe) the idea is that you're supposed to dip it in your coffee, that makes it even less appealing. 

You're probably wondering why I bothered to bake biscotti, but this biscotti is different. Trust me.  

Drew's mom is an avid baker, and if memory serves me correctly, on my first visit to meet his family, among the array of baked goods was biscotti. I almost passed it up, but Drew practically inhaled it, so I had to see what all the fuss was about. I'm glad I did. This biscotti was definitely not hard, crunchy, or stale. It was really, really good, and I too began inhaling it. In fact, I believe that Drew mom's baked us another batch.

I usually bake on Sundays, but I was indecisive last Sunday and couldn't decide what to bake, so I let Drew decide (sometimes I poll him for input but he doesn't make the decision unilaterally because I usually have some ideas) and he decided that he wanted chocolate almond biscotti. It seemed fitting that I bake something from his mom's repertoire on Mother's Day. 

I packed the biscotti with chopped almonds and chocolate chips, which was simultaneously a good and bad idea. It made it difficult to slice after the first bake- I began slicing it too quickly and it crumbled, and I unleashed  a string of profanities- but the almonds and chocolate are what makes the biscotti so good.

brown butter snickerdoodles

While snickerdoodles are one of Drew's favorite treats (shocking because they don't have a trace of chocolate!), I'm not such a huge fan. In fact, I don't really see the appeal. I mean, I like them, but they're just so simple and so not showstoppers at all. After all, they're just cinnamon, sugar, butter, flour, cream of tarter, baking soda, and salt. So not surprisingly, I've made these only two other times in my life. 

While paging through my Baked Elements cookbook, I was intrigued by the recipe for Brown Butter Snickerdoodles. I'm a sucker for brown butter, ever since I made a Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake, which is quite possibly the best thing I've ever baked in my entire life. Despite my ambivalence with snickerdoodles, this recipe had me at "brown butter" (old movie reference-do you get it? It's from Jerry McGuire, circa the late 1990s. That I just referred to a movie released while I was in high school as old makes me a little sad.).

Anyway, I had a bit of a tough time browning the butter. Not like it was hard or anything, what I mean is that I had a difficult time detecting when it was "done." I followed the directions, cooked it for the recommended number of minutes and until it reached the appropriate color, but my sense of smell was off and I couldn't smell if it was sufficiently browned. Given that I ate 5 cookies yesterday (2 for breakfast, and 3 for dessert after dinner), which is very unusual, I'm guessing that 1) I must be a huge fan of brown butter, and 2) it was sufficiently brown. 

Let me say  a few words about the Baked cookbook (and this will explain why I was eating cookies for breakfast). This is the 3rd Baked cookbook, and I have all three. For the most part, I like them, though the recipes have many steps, seem a little high maintenance, and usually require some advance planning. As long as you plan in advance, it helps alleviate the high maintenance aspect. And best of all, the results are terrific, so it's all worth it. If you make any of the cookies, you can pretty much count on chilling the dough from 1 hour to up to 24. I made the cookie dough on Monday morning and baked the cookies on Tuesday morning...hence cookies for breakfast. In my defense, there is almost nothing better than fresh baked cookies straight out of the oven. 

chocolate chip bars

For as long as I can remember, my mom has made chocolate chip bars. Whether it's a potluck or a road trip, my mom can be counted on to make a pan of bars. They begin with a cake mix, and she used to add walnuts, but I believe she eventually stopped at my request. 

It was not until fairly recently that I learned that the concept of bars was not widespread in the United States. I don't know if they are a Minnesota thing, or a Midwestern thing, but they are certainly not a California thing. In the summer of 2006, at a family reunion in Minnesota, an announcement inviting people to a potluck caused a bit of confusion. Among other information, there were suggestions for dishes for people to bring, such as bars. The California contingent of our family was perplexed. Bars? Like a drinking establishment? Or prison? This led to a lot of laughs and a long running joke that continues to this day. In fact, for a period of time, every time I visited the Oceanside family, I would bring a pan of bars.  

I've made my mom's version of chocolate chip bars here and there, but I stopped a few years ago because I prefer to bake from scratch. I hadn't thought much about them, until I stumbled across a recipe in the Fat Witch Brownie cookbook. The author, who owns the Fat Witch Bakery, calls them blondies, but to me, they are chocolate chip bars and nothing else.

After nearly a month long hiatus, bars were the perfect way to ease back into baking. They are quick and easy, and the results are always satisfying. I've made lots of things from the Fat Witch cookbook, and it's my go-to cookbook when I want to make brownies or bars.   

coconut caramel clusters

Caramel is my achilles heel. I manage to pull it off only about half the time. In fact, whenever I attempt it, I always make sure I have extra ingredients on hand in case I need a redo. I've tried to make caramel many times, and when I mess up, it's obvious that I've done so. But even when I think I get it right, I'm never certain that I have. 

I made caramel for the first time a few years ago, using a recipe from Simply Recipes. It's the only time I've managed to pull it off successfully- and know it. I guess it was beginner's luck, because caramel has been my nemesis ever since.

Without meaning to, I continued to make homemade versions of Girl Scout cookies last week. This time, I made Coconut Caramel Clusters, a recipe from Baked Elements. I have three Baked cookbooks, and while I'm drawn to the glossy pictures and the creative recipes, I'm not sure how I feel about the cookbooks. Some of the recipes seem hit or miss, but maybe that's just me. And they're pretty high maintenance, so when there's a miss, it's really annoying. 

These bars look really good, and they are, but they are strange. For one, the caramel making process was quite time consuming and a little unorthodox (this is true of some of their other techniques). But perhaps more importantly, the caramel hardens so much that the only way we can eat these is to first heat them up in the microwave for a few seconds. It is impossible to eat them otherwise. Aside from that peculiarity, they are quite good, but very rich. And without a doubt, better than the Girl Scout cookies, Caramel Delites (previously known as Samoas). 

mint chocolate chip shorts

I joined Girl Scouts when I was 7, and even though I was a Girl Scout for many years thereafter, I remember my first meeting as being rather traumatic. I was a shy kid, and I didn't want to go. I didn't know anyone. There were tears, but I think that what finally lured me to stay was the promise of a cupcake (there was always a snack at these meetings, albeit not a healthy one). And so I stayed, and the only thing I remember  (aside from the cupcakes with luscious swirls of frosting) was that I made a sit-upon (a portable seat that you sit on) with newspapers and a heavy duty trash bag.

I remained a Girl Scout after that first meeting and throughout high school. Like anything, Girl Scouts is what you make of it. Most people think it's only about the cookies, but it's so much more than that. It's about empowering girls, providing them with opportunities to try new things, and helping them to develop their self-confidence. 

I was very active in Girl Scouts--I earned a lot of badges and awards, and I went to Girl Scout Camp. In high school, I was a junior counselor at the day camp, and in college, I worked at the resident camp (twice in Minnesota, and twice in South Carolina). Being a Girl Scout has left me with many, many fond memories and experiences, and I'm certain that it has shaped the person I have become. For example, I was a shy kid, and public speaking terrified me. But in Girl Scouts, I didn't think twice about standing up in front a group and giving a speech or leading a song. Because I was able to develop this skill in a safe space among my peers, I was much more comfortable standing up in front of others when put in non-Girl Scout situations. 

Of course, I can't talk about Girl Scouts without mentioning the cookies. I sold a lot of these, and even though I was a Girl Scout for so many years, I don't go crazy for the cookies. For example, I have never understood the appeal of the Thin Mints (there, I said it). Maybe it's because that for me, the cookies aren't a once-a-year occurrence that they are for most people. I mean, back in my day, when we had extra boxes of cookies, we didn't sell them in front of grocery stores; we (my parents) had to eat the costs. And at Girl Scout camp, there were always lots and lots of cookies. So for me, cookies were always around, all year long.

Though I could take or leave the cookies, whenever I see Girl Scouts selling them, I usually buy a box or two. It's not really that I want the cookies, it's that I want to support the Girl Scouts, and I like the memories the cookies represent. But this year, I haven't purchased any cookies, because here's what happens: I eat one or two, and then forget about the rest and then they go stale and I have to throw them out.

A couple weeks ago, Drew and I passed by some girls selling Girl Scout cookies, and we had this exchange:

Drew: You know, you usually buy a couple boxes, but haven't this year.

Me: Oh, I've never had any cash with me, and they don't take credit cards.

Drew: Well, you didn't ask me if I had any cash.

Me: Oh yeah...

Drew: I think I know the real reason why you haven't bought any cookies. It's because you think you can do it better.

I'd be lying if I said he wasn't right. Girl Scout cookies are good, but they're not mind blowing or anything, and I think homemade versions would be superior. I feel really bad typing this, and a part of me fears that my Gold Award will be revoked. I haven't been proactive about making homemade versions of my favorite cookies; rather, I just happen to come across recipes that are reminiscent of thin mints or caramel delites.  

I came across one such recipe in my new cookbook, Baking Out Loud by Hedy Goldsmith. She promises that her Mint Chocolate Chip Shorts are evocative of the Thin Mints, and they certainly come very, very close. But as she promises, this version is a lot better than the pre-packaged kind.