My first baking order!

I am so proud and excited to say, I have just completed my first baking order ever! One of our family friends heard about my insane amount of baking this summer and took a look at this little blog, and decided she'd love for me to bake a couple things for her son's camping trip over the weekend. So, after a bit of discussion and advising, she decided she'd like me to make my Blondies and Chocolate Chip Cookies. The only change I made was to take out the peanut butter chips (in case of allergies!) so I increased the dried apricot and chocolate pieces. (Beware, adding more dried fruit makes the dough take longer to bake- so if you make the recipe linked here, make sure you add about 8-10 more minutes baking time)Since I also had half a bread dough left in the fridge I made some Baguette, and for my last day of work (!!!!!) I made a typically French dessert, Madeleines!

Luckily, I had Miss Dorie's wonderful Madeleine recipe waiting for me in Baking From My Home To Yours, so I made the batter before work so it would have plenty of time to set to make lovely humped cookies.

Thankfully, even though I feel like I've been going nonstop since 7 am this morning, I managed to bake up everything I wanted to, and I hope that our friend enjoys the desserts this weekend!

Lemon Madeleine's

(lovingly borrowed from Dorie Greenspan)

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 large eggs. at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 stick (6 tbsp)unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Working in a mixer bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the eggs to the bowl. Working with the whisk attachment, beat the sugar and eggs together on medium high speed until pale, thick and light, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. With a rubber spatula, very gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, or for up to 2 days. (You can also spoon the batter into the greased and floured madeleine molds, cover and refrigerate, then bake the madeleines directly from the fridge.)
3. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400F. Butter and flour the madeleine mold and place the pan on a baking sheet.
4. Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each one almost to the top. Don't worry about spreading the batter evenly, the oven's heat will take care of that. Bake the madeleines for 11-13 mins, or until they are golden and the tops spring back when touched. Remove the pan from the oven and release the madeleines from the mold by rapping the edge of the pan using your fingers or a butter knife. Transfer the madeleines to a rack to cool to just warm or to room temperature.
5. If you are making minis and have more batter, bake the next batch, make certain that you cool, then properly prepare the pan before baking.
6. Just before serving, dust the madeleines with confectioners' sugar.

*The recipe is said to yield 12 large madeleines, but I easily made 24 in my "large" madeleine pan. Just be sure to not over-fill the pans, the batter grows considerably in the oven.*

Happy Baking!

Jessica

Treat of the Week for Work: Blackberry Pie Bars

Every berry has its day.

Well... most do. This little guy slid off the plate just as all the others were being poured into my lovely Kitchen Aid mixing bowl.

Yeah, I never get tired of saying that. My. Kitchen Aid. Mixer. Ah, it's like poetry. :)

So anyways, you'll be happy to learn that this recipe marks my first completed "section" from the bucket list! I've made all the Bars I had set to make as my goal. But don't think I'm getting off the hook THAT easy. I've still got some surprises up my sleeve... and since discovering my insane passion for bars, I just know these won't be the last ones to come out of my oven.

Blackberry Pie Bars
(with very little adaptation, from Brown Eyed Baker)

Yield: 18 bars

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Bake Time: 55 minutes

For the Crust and Topping:
Zest of 2 lemons
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter + 1/2 cup salted butter, cubed and chilled (I'm trying to get rid of the extra salted butter we accidentally bought a while ago!)

For the Blackberry Filling:
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light sour cream
¾ cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2 16-ounce packages of frozen blackberries (I'm sorry!! My wallet couldn't handle the cost for 8 small crates of Driscoll's $3.99 a package berries!)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan with butter; set aside.

2. In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar and the lemon zest. Using your fingers, rub the zest into the sugar until all of the sugar has been moistened. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the lemon sugar, all-purpose flour and salt. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and continue to pulse until the pieces of butter are no larger than the size of peas, about 10 to 12 pulses.

3. Measure out 1½ cups of the crumb mixture to use for the topping and put it in the refrigerator until needed. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes while you prepare the filling.

4. To make the filling, whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in the sugar, sour cream, flour and salt until thoroughly combined. Gently fold in the blackberries. Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust and make sure all of the blackberries are in one layer and not sitting on top of one another.

5. Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly over the filling. Bake until the top is lightly browned, about 45 to 55 minutes. Let cool for at least 1 hour before cutting.

Happy Baking!

Jessica

It took some time, but we made it through

Today, I had my first voice lesson (since I've moved back home for the summer) and I wanted to make something special for my teacher (and good friend) of 4 years. A while back, at one of her various recitals I learned that her favorite sweet was Lemon Bars- so I thought my mom's amazing recipe would be perfect.I know they require a blind bake for the crust and another baking with the lemony-custard poured on top, but knowing I would have about an hour and twenty minutes when I got home from work to get them done, I thought they would be perfect and still warm for me to bring to her.

Before

Unfortunately, this did not go as planned. I got back a few minutes late, all in a rush, and when I had gotten through the blind bake and everything else, I only just had the 15 minutes necessary to drive to her studio- and the bars where scalding hot! So I grudgingly left and thought I'd bring them by her house later that night, but it turns out they had not cooked through enough- so back to the oven they went. After a grueling hour and a half of trying to get them to cook I realized I had put in too much lemon juice and the liquid was keeping them from setting up properly! Silly me! But, after some First Aid from my mom, we managed to rectify and deliver them.

This is one of the simplest recipes I've come across and yet it's one that definitely lulled me into a false sense of security! Sooo, if you try these out- because they are FABULOUS when done properly, remember to wear your glasses when reading the ingredient list. ;-)

*Yes, that is Guy Fieri from Food Network, on TV in the background :)*

Isabelle's (Delicious) Lemon Bars

(Yields 12 squares)

Ingredients and Recipe

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Mix together. Blind bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest (1-2 tsp of Meyers)
• 6 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/3 cup flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Mix together and pour on top of crust. Bake for 18 extra minutes. (Can need up to 22-23 however so watch for a golden top and a fork stuck in coming out clean)

Let cool and cut. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Happy Baking!

Jessica

Twist on a FANTASTIC bar :)

All week, I'd been truing to come up with a recipe to bring to work on Friday to share with my coworkers and somehow I was just not getting inspired. So frustrating, until I realized that it was because I was still stuck on the Apricot Oat Bars I made on Monday. They were exactly what I wanted to share with my team, but I simply couldn't justify making the exact same thing again- so on my drive home I brainstormed different fruits I could try. But, it wasn't until stepping into my friendly grocer's produce aisle that I knew I had to use blackberries. Those berries were staring me down from the moment I stepped in the store- so I picked up a little box of them and then grabbed a bottle of Smuckers Simply Fruit Blackberry Preserves, and I was good to go.

If you want a sweet little treat to share that's not actually TOO unhealthy, give these a try or choose a different fruit and let me know how it works out for you!

Happy Baking!

Jessica

First day of work and Giada's Apricot Oat Bars!

Hi everyone!

I apologize for the past few posts' shortness, but I've been so busy trying to cram in the last few moments of summer fun before work began! And what a last hurrah it was!
I have baked so much in the last week and a half but I am having so much fun, coming home and being able to bake anything of my choosing is so relaxing and having the chance to balance it out between the SUPER sweet (yep, I'm talking to you S'Mores Brownies!!) to the scrumptious and savory Challah. (Did I just use alliteration over summer break?) Anyways, back to the reason for this post! I had my first day of work today at a technology company (Sorry, can't disclose the name!) as a marketing intern. Today was mostly orientation presentations and a REALLY long training session for a program I already know... So as I'm sure you can imagine, I was seriously ready for a little R and R, and on the drive home I thought of the perfect dessert. I saw it on the Food Network about 2 weeks ago and knew I had to wait for the perfect occasion to make it. Giada de Laurentiis is honestly one of my favorite people ever. Between Giada and Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa), I think I would never have another boring conversation. She just seems so normal and down to earth! We'd be besties- I know it. :) So, in the spirit of sharing my love for my foodie idol, here's the recipe. These bars are chewy and moist throughout with just the right amount of crunch from the nuts! I am ESPECIALLY glad I halved this recipe because after watching all the sugar that was mixed into it and the AMAZING taste-I would absolutely gain 10 pounds if the full recipe had been in my kitchen. Be careful- these are crazy good.

Apricot Oat Bars (full recipe)
(adapted from Giada de Laurentiis)

Ingredients

• 13 ounces apricot preserves
• 8 dried apricots, chopped into 1/4 in. pieces (I kept the full 8 to add more authentic apricot chewiness!)
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 packed cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I left this out- not a big cinnamon fan)
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (table salt is fine too)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup (4 ounces) coursely chopped walnuts (I only had pecans on hand so I used those and they worked just as well)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 egg, at room temperature, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I left the whole teaspoon in my halved version)

Directions

1. Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 by 2-inch metal baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray. (Or butter) Line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with vegetable oil cooking spray and set aside.
2. Filling: In a small bowl, mix together the preserves and the apricots. Set aside.
3. Crust: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Stir in the oats and walnuts. Add the butter, egg and vanilla and stir until incorporated.
4. Using a fork or clean fingers, lightly press half of the crust mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Using a spatula, spread the filling over the crust leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge of the pan. Cover the filling with the remaining crust mixture and gently press to flatten. Bake until golden, about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool for 1 hour. (This is the REALLY hard part!) Cut into bars and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Hopefully you'll give these a try and share my love for Giada and her yummy bars. :)

Happy Baking!

Jessica