Sometimes you start out with one thing, and end up with something completely different at the end. While that seems to be the story of my life, this "cake" is the perfect example. I was scrambling to make last minute blondies to bring to a dinner at a friend's house and quickly started assembling the ingredients. I had just used up the last of my reserves of brown sugar and didn't have much time to run out to the corner deli. Aha! Why not make my own brown sugar? Dusting off my jar of molasses from Christmas (whoops...lol) I added it to my regular white sugar. Except I added too much. Sigh. With no time to spare, I continued with the recipe. When I arrived at my friend house, I soon learned that they didn't like blondies. At all. Breathing a sigh of relief, we all took turns tasting these blondies turned "brunette." The molasses is the biggest difference, making them moist and gooey with a layer of raspberry and crunchy almonds in the mixture. I would definitely add more white chocolate, since they seemed to have dissolved. In the end, while things don't go as planned, it work outs in the end. Good to know.





White Chocolate, Raspberry, and Almond Molasses Brunettes

2 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
14 tablespoons/ 1 1/2 stick + 2 tablespoons of butter
2 cups of white granulated sugar
1/4 cup of molasses
1 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
3 large eggs
1 cup of slivered almonds
1 cup of white chocolate pieces ( I would add more as the molasses tends to overpower the white chocolate)
1 cup of raspberry preserves


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter two 9x9 pans or one 10x15 pan.
2. Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
3. Cream butter, sugar, and molasses. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time. Mix well after each addition.
4. Incorporate flour mixture with the wet ingredient. Add almonds and white chocolate pieces and mix well.
5. Spread half the batter and swirl in raspberry puree. Add the rest of the batter. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool and devour.

This is probably the recipe that most of my friends have been waiting for, considering I made multiple batches and had them try it. For a while, this recipe was pretty popular around the internet, and for good reason. It is very sweet, and to me that makes it so much better. Instead of graham crackers, I actually used cinnamon toast crunch cereal. Let's just say, WOW. I love love love how the cookie batter turned out. It's soft and chewy, with a caramelized taste and texture due to the cereal. The second time I made it, I didn't even need to use chocolate chips in the batter, the chocolate pieces and marshmallow were good enough. Aesthetically and epicureanly pleasing, these cookies are a crowd please. Best thing about 'em, they taste great the day after. If they even last that long.








I played around with the recipe after running out of Hershey chocolate bars. I drizzled them with with Nutella instead and even used Whoppers I had lying around. Improvisation can lead to magical things.




Campfire S'mores Cookies
adapted from Stephanie Cooks

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, pulverized or smashed into crumbs
1 teaspoon baking soda1 teaspoon salt
Dash of cinnamon1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups of mini chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows
2 Hershey's Chocolate Bar, chopped into chunks

1. Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
2. Mix flour, cereal crumbs, baking soda,salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Make sure to fully incorporate the first egg before adding the next.
4. Slowly combine the flour mixture into the butter mixture until incorporated. Add in mini chocolate chips.
5. Place scoops of cookie dough on a cookie sheet (parchment or wax paper can really come in handy). Bake for eight minutes or until almost done.
6. Remove from oven and place marshmallow and chocolate pieces into each cookie. I usually like to add three mini marshmallows and two broken pieces of chocolate. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 3-4 minutes or until done.
7. Cool on rack before handling. I repeat, they are very fragile while warm!

The best way to enjoy summer is to make a dessert made from fruit. While I tricked myself into believing this blueberry crisp was healthy (it is!), I was busy getting my fill of Vitamin C to really care. Desserts containing fruits never used to entice me, being the chocolate fiend that I am, but working on my children's literature final project forced me to actually try a recipe. I was working on a cookbook and I thought this blueberry crisp would be a great match for the classic children's book Blueberries for Sal. Does anyone else remember the story of Sal "helping" her mother by picking blueberries and encountering a bear cub? Ah, youth.

The ingredients and preparation for this dessert is simple and straightforward. Let's just say, and I am not saying this lightly, it is incredibly good. I made it at midnight in a 9x9 baking dish, and by 7AM the next morning, the glass baking dish was scraped clean by my tendency to "have a little more." Still not convinced? Imagine warm, sweet and bubbling caramelized blueberries with a sprinkle of a buttery sugar crumb on top AND on top of that, icy cold and creamy vanilla ice cream. Told ya.

Blueberry Crisp

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup and 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons cornstarch

vanilla ice cream (not really optional)

whipped cream (ditto)

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

2. Combine the flour, 1/3 cup of sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture and blend with a fork until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

3. Sprinkle lemon juice over the berries and mix. Combine 1/4 cup of sugar and cornstarch and sprinkle over berries and lightly toss to coat.

4. Spoon berries into a 8x8 pan coated with butter or cooking spray. Sprinkle crumb mixture over berries.

5. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly.

6. Serve with a scoop of ice cream or with whipped cream

I love baking with bananas, no ingredient is so versatile and forgiving at the same time. For a new baker, this is godsend. Before I started baking, I believed an exceptional dessert had to contain chocolate as an ingredient. This recipe will change your opinion. The cake is light, fluffy, and full of genuine banana flavor. The cream cheese frosting (my favorite!) is tangy, sweet, and silky smooth. Together, divine.