Sweet & Salty Caramel Corn

My brother and sister-in-law had there "wedding" last weekend. Really it was a vow exchange. There is this goofy thing you can do in Colorado, where only one person needs to be present. Proxy wedding for the win! Lucky for them, the family knows people in Colorado. That person being my dads BFF and grooms man from back in the day. So needless to say they wanted to exchange their vows and throw a big old party, two years into marriage.

I had the great pleasure of cooking the rehearsal dinner, which was more like a cocktail part-ay, for 30 some people. There has never been a meal where I have put so much thought or planning into. Despite all the thought and planning, it wasn't until the week before the rehearsal that panic struck. Sitting in my apartment, surrounded by cookies (so many cookies), that I started to think about how much food I was making.

The fact that I chose to make deviled eggs and then the realization that I'd be hard boiling, peeling and filling a couple dozen eggs, caused a serious moment of panic.Then that I would be making 60 mini empanadas, blue cheese cookies, red velvet cake balls, whiskey weiners, prosciutto wrapped pear, endives with blue cheese and walnuts, and cheese board. Yup, my panic snow balled so far I worried about constructing a cheese board.

My brother's response to the panic was order pizza instead then, which was not received well by me. The look on my face was something like "I will kill you if you say that again". He said it many more times, which makes him lucky he lived to see the rehearsal dinner. Luckily I'm confident in my food and great at talking myself down.

Plus 2/3 of the desserts were complete close to a week in advance. The millions of compost cookies that sparked the panic snow-ball were in the freezer and caramel corn is my jam. I've spent a good amount of time finding the perfect recipe.

The process is simple, especially if you excel at popping pop corn (I still usually burn the first batch). The ingredient list is small. There is no thermometer involved, just time and color judgement. You're looking for a caramel corn color essentially. Which, the above doesn't quite to justice to the color you're looking for.

A lot of recipes have you pour the caramel over the pop corn and bake it, for even caramel distribution. That seems like a waste of time to me, when I can just stir the hell out of it and get the same results. Wear a oven mitt. Be careful. I do more of a folding approach than stirring. Cutting down the middle.

When there are no more caramel clumps, distribute it between two baking sheets. Spread it out into one even layer and break up any large bits. Let it cool. It shouldn't take terribly long to reach a edible temperature. Its hard to resist the sweet and salty goodness.

The next party you have make this and be confident that if nothing else turns out, this will, and people will not complain about eating only this. If you don't have a party just bring it to the next one. It makes a good drinking snack too, home and bar snack approved.

xo
April



Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup, plus 1/8 cup unpopped popcorn kernels

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon, light corn syrup

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

Instructions:

1. Heat oil with 3 popcorn kernels, in a large pot over medium heat. When kernels pop, add remaining 1/2 cup of kernels. Cook, covered, shaking pan occasionally, until popping stops, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat; let stand, covered, 1 minute. Transfer popcorn to a clean bowl, checking for any burnt or unpopped kernels and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan heat sugar, butter and corn syrup over medium heat, stirring until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Continue to cook for 6 to 7 minutes, until the mixture is golden brown (don't stir the mixture, only swirl the saucepan). Add the salt to the mixture (still not stirring, give the pan a good shake instead).
3. Add the popcorn to the saucepan, stirring until evenly coated. Transfer to two baking sheets, spreading it out and breaking up any large chunks. 

Truffle Mac & Cheese

I'm back! It has been a shamefully long time since I have posted on this here blog and a lot has happened in that time. My senioritis procrastination situation really came to bite me in the past two months of my absence. Despite my heightened procrastination, I made it through my last semester of college with flying colors. That is right, I'm a UW-Madison Alumni now, which is weird to think. It is true though, no big deal.

It is a new year and everyone is trying to hold onto those new year resolutions to eat healthy and get organized. Not me though. I shoot for moderation in my eating all year round. It has worked for me thus far, mostly. A good resolution would probably be to cut back on the procrastination, but it works for me. Did I mention this recipe came to be for Thanksgiving. So it is a few month late, but equally delicious. Case and point: procrastination works for me.

So for those of you looking to break your new years resolution, have already done so or don't make them, this recipe is for you. This bad boy mac & cheese has over a pound of cheese. Tons of whole milk. Although  a combination of whole milk and skim milk works too.

Instead of adding the truffle oil to the cheese sauce, I toss it with the pasta right after I drain it. The steamy hot pasta, cooked al dente, will soak up all that yummy flavor. Plus, there is already plenty of fat, dare I say grease, in the cheese sauce. No need to dump the truffle oil right into the sauce. Plus, I imagine the oil separating from the cheese mixture like water and oil, yuck.

There is more cheese in the topping, along with panko bread crumbs and truffle oil. Never tried panko bread crumbs? You should, they can be found in most grocery stores and make for a perfectly crunchy topping for any casserole. Beats store bough bread crumbs or grinding up your own.The end result is a decadent and elegant macaroni & cheese, with the addition of the truffle oil. It will impress your next dinner guests for sure, because truffles are always impressive.

xo
April

Ingredients:
Topping:
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 1/2 cups (4 oz) cheddar cheese, grated
3/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
1 teaspoon truffle oil

Macaroni and Sauce:
1 stick unsalted butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 1/2 cups whole milk
6 cups (1 lb) extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup (2 oz) Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
3/4 cup (3 oz) fontina cheese, grated
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons truffle oil
1 pound elbow macaroni, twists or penne pasta

Instructions:
Topping:

1. Preheat oven to 400F, with rack in middle. Combine the butter, panko bread crumbs, truffle oil, cheddar and Parmigiano-Reggiano, in a bowl, until well combined.

Macaroni and Sauce

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Once butter has melted whisk in the flour, continue whisking for 3 minutes, until the mixture is a light golden color and thick, then whisk in the milk. 
2. Increase the heat and bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly, about 6-8 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for 4 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Stir in cheeses, until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente (a few minutes shy of what you normally do). Drain macaroni a colander, placing the drain noodles in a large bowl. Toss the noodles with the truffle oil, until well coated. Combine the noodles and cheese sauce, until evenly coated. Transfer to a 9 x 12 baking dish, sprinkling topping over the pasta evenly. 
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until topping is golden.

Slightly adapted from Gourmet

Compost Cookies

I'm going to be in a wedding! A bridesmaid to be precise! I don't know much about weddings. The last wedding and reception I attended was when I was like 5. We are lucky I remember that (I don't remember my childhood, much less what I did 3 days ago). Now I am in the wedding! We call it a wedding, but really its a statement of vows, or both. There never was a wedding or exchange of vows, whoops. So it is pretty much a wedding, I guess. How could this be, you ask?!

Did you know in Colorado you can have someone stand in for the other half? That is what my brother and now sister-in-law did. The best part was, the stand in for my sister-in-law was a dude. To be precise my parents best man. How cute?

It is probably important to know why they did this. She was at boot camp. He had already finished and was an officer, in the military. It isn't the best to sleep with your boss, ya know? Especially in the military. They just failed to think of this before she was confined to boot camp. Now the wedding is in February. They aren't much for the planning ahead. Excited none the less. Do you know anyone who has gotten married in this way? Or any good wedding laughs? I'd love to hear them!

Believe it or not, the above story is slightly related to these cookies. I'm mailing them to my sister-in-law, in Texas. Another twist to their little love story: they've spent a lot of time apart. BUT she comes home in 2 1/2 weeks, for good!

These cookies are from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook. This is a pretty great book. A lot of it is pretty involved  but oh so very interesting. Beet-lime white chocolate ganache? Intrigued. Plus I don't live in New York. AKA New York is being brought to me instead.

I've been wanting to make these for a while and a friend recently was nagging me for the recipe. Perfect reason to make them. Plus, I have been all about the sweet, salty and unexpected. Chips and pretzels in your cookie? YUM!

These come out as giant sized cookies. In case you like 'em smaller, take note of that.  You only use 1/4 of the graham crust, but I took their suggestion and froze it for later use. I plan to make these for the holidays anyways. Screw traditional cookies, someone else will make them. Another great tip, freeze them for later. The finished product is rich and sweet, with whole pretzel crunch surprises.

Ingredients:

Graham Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup milk powder

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted

1/4 cup heavy cream

Cookie batter:

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar, tightly packed

1 tablespoon corn syrup

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup graham crust

1/3 cup old fashioned oats

2 teaspoons ground coffee

50g (2 cups) chips

50g mini (1 cup) pretzels

Instructions:

1. Combine the butter, sugars, and corn syrup in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla, and beat for 7-8 minutes, until pale and fluffy (almost doubled).
2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute (you don't want to over mix the batter!).
3. Still on low speed, add the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, graham crust, oats, and coffee and mix just until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the potato chips and pretzels and paddle, still on low speed, until just incorporated. Don't overmix or risk breaking too many of the pretzels or potato chips!
4. Using a 2 3/4-ounce ice cream scoop (or a 1/3-cup measuring cup), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature--they will not bake properly (did you see all that butter you put in there!?). 
5. Heat the oven to 375F.
6. Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment- or silpat-lined sheet pans (these cookies do spread like crazy, give 'em space. I put 5 per pan). Bake for 18 minutes (I'd check them at about 16 minutes, depending on your oven). The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be very faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center. Give them an extra minute or so if that's not the case.
7. Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temp, cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

Recipe by Momofuku Milk Bar

Sweet & Salty Sugar Cookies

What is your favorite kind of cookie? I asked my sister-in-law that same question and the response was one I wasn't really expecting. Or maybe I should have because she is a bit of a selective eater. Her response was sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate chips. What do you even call that, when the major ingredient is missing? Sometimes the odd stuff is the best stuff, so she might be onto something?

My favorite cookie has to be chocolate chip though or white chocolate macadamia nut. It is probably a childhood thing. My grandmother would always make billions of chocolate chip cookies and we would eat them all winter long. The macadamia nut is probably picked up from my dad, pretty sure those are his favorite. I also like them because they seem to have this sweet and slightly salty thing going on.

Sweet and salty has to be the ultimate flavor combination. Chocolate covered pretzels. Salted caramel. These almonds .You name it, if it is sweet and salty it will be awesome. That is how these cookies came to be. Plain old sugar cookies seemed boring. They tend to be overly sweet and run of the mill.

These may be sweet too, but in the best way. You can't just eat one, the salt gets you coming back for more.  It might be just the cookie for the person who doesn't like sweets. These are also super easy to make. Everything should be in your pantry or fridge already.

You take a vanilla bean and scrap out its cute little seeds and combine it with sugar. Beat the sugars and butter. Add an egg and some vanilla extract. The addition of vanilla extract combined with the vanilla bean, gives these a vanilla scented quality. It cuts the sweetness a bit and balances the saltiness. Then you add your flour, mix it all up. Scoop, roll, flatten and bake your cookies. Slam, bam and done! The resulting cookie is chewy and soft on the inside, witch crisp edges.

Try them with a cup of coffee, its delicious. These will make the perfect cookie for the upcoming holiday cookie season. Not to mention an unexpected surprise from the traditional sugar cookie. Take them to a holiday party or to work, for a surprise break from the standard sugary sweet holiday cookies. You'll impress people, promise. I want to know what your favorite cookie is, leave a comment!

xo
April

Ingredients:
Yields 24 cookies
Cookies:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Salty/Sugar Coating:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Position a rack in the middle of oven.
2. In a food processor, combine 1 cup sugar and the vanilla bean, pulsing until vanilla is well distributed (If you don't have a food processor, use your hands to break up the vanilla seeds into the sugar, until evenly distributed.)
3. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. 
4. In a stand mixer or bowl, beat the sugars and butter together for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Then add the egg and vanilla, beating until well combined. Add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. 
5. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. In a small shallow pan or plate, mix the sugar and salt. Scoop the dough by the tablespoons, a generous one, rolling the dough into a ball. Next, roll the dough into the sugar/salt mixture. Place the cookies, evenly spaced, on the prepared baking sheets. Next, slighlty press each cookie, using a flat bottomed glass, flattening the tops. 
6. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes, until their edges are just starting to brown.
7. Remove the cookies from the oven, and cool on the pan for several minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
8. Once the cookies are cool, store them in an airtight container and enjoy.

Recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated

Spiral Sugar Cookies

So a few weeks ago, I got a very exciting email. I found out that I had won Heather Baird's cookbook, Sprinklebakes! I couldn't believe it! I have entered a couple giveaways on blogs before but I have never won. I was never too disappointed because before this email, I had never won any raffle. Ever. One time in elementary school, we had bingo night and I won there, but that is beside the point. Otherwise, I've been going through my whole life without my ticket ever being called off or name being drawn. I guess I should take into account that I don't enter myself into these things often. But lets get back on track, I was checking my email at work and winning this book made my day! I was so excited and nervous I would miss the cut off time to reply, so I immediately replied to the email. Some short days later the book came in the mail! Thank you again Dawn from Vanilla Sugar Blog!

The cookbook not only has great pictures and recipes to go with them, but there are great technique tips to sift through, too. But the best part about the book is that it is all about making your desserts art. And if you know me well, you know there's a little artist trying to peak through the science nerd that I am.

When I was looking through Sprinklebakes, I pick this recipe as my first target. These would be a yummy but neat looking sugar cookie that would be perfect for a Wisconsin Badgers game day! The game against Purdue was away so I figured these cookies would be the perfect munchie while watching the game on TV. Although they can be a bit time consuming, a helper (aka my boyfriend) in the kitchen makes a big difference. The effort and time is definitely worth it! These cookies are the perfect sweetness that are not too soft but not quite crunchy either. All in all, it's hard to only eat one! 

Normally I would post the recipe but I attached the link to when Heather posted the recipe on her Sprinklebakes blog here. I think the pictures that go along with the steps are useful. Also, I'm not going to lie, it has been a busy week of class, exams, work and preparing for my boyfriend's birthday dinner (yay!) so my tired body doesn't even want to type anymore. Hope you check out the recipe!