Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats

As a testament to just how good these rice crispy treats are, I'll admit I had to make them 3 times before getting a picture of them. Each time I made them we either ate them all or gave them away. I am in no way complaining about that though because these rice crispy treats are amazing. Brown butter and salt add an interesting depth of flavor to traditional crispy treats, making them irresistible to me. Honestly, it took some severe willpower to limit myself to one (or two) of these per day, and I could have easily eaten the whole batch. Now I just have to find an excuse to make them again......

Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats
Source: Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 10-ounce bag marshmallows
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal (about half a 12-ounce box)

Butter or coat with non-stick spray an 8-inch square pan with 2-inch sides.

In large bowl, combine the rice krispies and salt; stir to combine.

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Don’t take your eyes off the pot as the point between nuttiness and burnt butter happens very quickly. (this whole process took 10-15 minutes for me)

As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color and you see brown bits in the butter, turn the heat off and stir in the marshmallows. If the residual heat from the melted butter does not melt the marshmallows, turn the heat back on low until the marshmallows are smooth.

Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the salt and cereal. Quickly spread into prepared pan, using hands or a spatula if necessary to ensure top is even and corners filled in.

Let cool completely before cutting.

Enjoy!

Cake Batter Cookies

Do you ever see the 10 for $10 sales on boxed cake mixes at the grocery store? And then think, "hmm, that's a good deal but why would I ever need multiple boxes of cake mix?" Now of course I know that you don't have to buy 10 boxes to get them for $1, but sometimes I have a hard time passing up a good deal. Nonetheless, I usually skip by the cake mix sales, but now that I discovered these cookies I may have a harder time next sale.

These cookies would be perfect for a quick sweet tooth fix, or those nights you remember you are supposed to bring treats to school or work. They are super easy to throw together and a lot easier to eat than a piece of cake! And while they taste a bit like cake (obviously), the addition of chocolate chips make them taste more like a traditional cookie.

Cake Batter Cookies
Source: All Recipes
Makes ~2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake mix and baking powder. Add eggs and oil; mix until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Black Russian Cake

Is it strange that I'm always really disappointed in myself when I forget to take a picture of something? Maybe I should just be happy that usually when this happens, it's also a case of something being so good that there is no time to waste in taking pictures. Sometimes I just need to dig in. This cake was no exception.

I can't remember how I came across this recipe, but I'm so glad I did. This cake is super easy, incredibly moist and has great flavor from the coffee and Kahlua. I'm a huge fan of most things coffee flavored, and I kind of wished that flavor was more potent in this cake, but either way it was still delicious.

Black Russian Cake
Source: The New Intercourses: An aphrodisiac cookbook

For the cake:
butter for greasing
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
3/4 cup strong coffee
1/2 cup creme de cacao
1/4 cup Kahlua
1 package dark-chocolate cake mix
1 (3 1/2 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding

For the topping:
1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons strong coffee
3 tablespoons Kahlua
3 tablespoons creme de cacao

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and thoroughly grease a 10-inch Bundt pan or a tin of miniature Bundts.

For the cake, combine the oil, eggs, coffee, creme de cacao, and Kahlua in a large bowl. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Add the cake mix and pudding mix, and stir until just combined. Pour into the Bundt pan until three-fourths full.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Invert cake onto a serving plate and punch holes throughout the cake with a skewer or ice pick.

While the cake is baking, prepare the topping. Be sure to sift the confectioners sugar well, or the glaze will be lumpy. Combine the confectioners sugar, coffee, Kahlua, and creme de cacao until the sugar dissolves. Spoon over the warm cake, reserving several tablespoons to drizzle onto cut slices.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Red Velvet Cheesecake

Ah Valentine's Day. It's fair to say this is a holiday that is not really that important to either of us. However, it is one of the few days out of the year where the man is okay with going out for a nice dinner, so I jump all over that opportunity! To save some money and have an excuse to bake, this year I wanted to make a fancy dessert to enjoy at home, and nothing seemed more festive than red velvet.

Cheesecake has always intimidated me, but it turns out it is fairly simple. It is a bit time consuming, with the baking, cooling, chilling etc but I am proud to say that this turned out really well for me. This cheesecake is very rich, and a little piece goes a long way. Because there are so many other cheesecake flavors I want to try now, I'm not sure if I will make this again, but it's worth it at least once!

Red Velvet Cheesecake
Source: Annie's Eats, adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 1/2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tbsp. sugar

For the cheesecake:
3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar
2 (1 oz.) bottles red food coloring

For the topping:
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbsp. butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a round of parchment paper. To make the crust, combine the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and sugar in a small bowl. Mix together with a fork until all the crumbs are moistened. Press the mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. To make the filling, beat together the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer at medium-low speed for 1 minute. Add eggs, unsweetened cocoa powder, sour cream, buttermilk, vanilla extract, vinegar and food coloring. Mix on low speed just until fully combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 300 degrees F, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the center is firm. Turn off the oven, prop the door open slightly, and let the cheesecake stand 30 minutes. Remove the cheesecake from the oven; cool in the pan on a wire rack for 3o minutes. Run a thin knife around the outside edge of the cake to separate from the pan. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours.

To make the topping, in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until smooth; gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth. Remove the cheesecake from the refrigerator and spread the topping evenly over the cheesecake. Remove sides of springform. Garnish if desired.