Oatmeal Raisin Bars

I've been feeling pretty lousy lately, what with this really debilitating cold (and just when the weather has finally gone all summery!) and my voice is starting to go. (I suppose I should be grateful that it's been four days since I got sick and the laryngitis is only kicking in now.) Work is a bit slow so there really is no excuse not to take advantage of the time and post.
I turned to a Taste of Home for inspiration for the engagement party and this is one of two recipes that I made. I'm pretty sure that the only reason I made these homey cookies was because I had everything on hand. Otherwise, I'm not sure that I would have made these for a party. I'll let you in on a little secret, though. These were delicious. First of all, how can anything with an oatmeal crumble be anything less? But, despite their sour cream filling (I kind of have an aversion to dairy and anything overtly dairy tasting. I know, I'm weird) they won me over. The filling is creamy and doesnt taste too strongly of sour cream and the raisins get perfectly softened during the baking and some cinnamon binds everything together. These arent what I would envision if you said oatmeal raisin bars, but try them, I'm sure they'll win you over, too.

Cookie Dough Brownies

It's been a long time since I've updated this blog and truthfully, I've thought about neglecting it altogether. In the last couple of months, I've been released from the army, started a full time job and a part time job and overall just been too tired to keep it up. I can hardly remember the last time I baked something that was a dessert and not bread. Every time I think about getting back into the kitchen, my bed calls my name and almost always wins out. I will try to be better, or at least get all of the backed up posts written.
The last time I went all out in the kitchen was for an engagement party that I hosted for a friend of mine in the army who get engaged. I baked and baked and baked. And then made some more. It was actually really fun and the get together was really nice, even though there was a boatload of leftovers... Enough to feed an army (haha, not so funny!) and that's exactly where I sent them the next day. One of the things I made was these Cookie Dough Brownies from the Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook and they were really, really well received. These don't require much effort but they are multi- layered so that may put some people off. If you really know how to manage your time, you can always get your other cakes made in between steps. The key is organization, people! I would say that this is a successful cross of two very comforting and homey foods, brownies and cookie dough. Who could say no?!

Coconut Sandwich Cookies with Chocolate Ganache

Purim is not my favorite holiday and thankfully it passed as quickly as it came. (Anyone else feel like this year is just flying by?!) Part of the Purim festivities is the obligation to give mishloach manot to at least one person. This is where people invest most of their energies, after their costumes are all settled, of course. People spend hours choosing a theme and then buying the goods and assembling these packages. I can remember my parents buying cases of junk food just for this purpose and forming an assembly line around our dining room table to assemble the mishloach manot for our many family members and friends. Me? I always choose to go the homemade route. Include one or two baked goods, and you're good to go. This year, it took a long time for anything to evolve in my head, and even at the last second, I changed the theme again. These cookies were the product of a possible "black and white" theme. (It fell through.. I ended up making homemade smores and just adding two of these cookies in so as not to waste them.) The recipe comes from the Israeli book simply called Chocolate. I purchased it in one of my very first years here in Israel and haven't used it that much but I gather that will be changing. These cookies are delicious by themselves, flavored with desiccated coconut and ethereally light in texture due to the addition of cornstarch. Add a simple ganache filling and you've elevated these cookies to gift-giving heights. I'm almost certain the only change I made to the recipe itself was to add a dash of salt to the cookie dough. Easy, delicious and holiday friendly.

Blond Butterscotch Toffee Brownies

Back in the summer, I hit up Walmart and brought back some mini chocolates for a friend. Well, that friend never claimed them so I figured I'd bring them to my soldiers. They'd never say no to American chocolates. But then I had a better idea... Bake with them! I brought back Butterfingers, Crunch Bars and Heath bars and decided that the Heath candies would be the best candidate for a bar cookie. I found a simple recipe in A Taste of Home's Church Supper Desserts book and quickly threw them together. Humble and unassuming as they are, these were the first to run off the plate when I brought them to my soldiers. These come together really quickly with just a bowl and a whisk. Next time you have chocolate bars just hanging around, you'll know just what to do!

Chocolate Surprise Cookies

When I get bored on any given day or need help falling asleep, I pull a cookbook off the shelf and start reading, hoping for some baking inspiration. Last week, it was Martha Stewart's Cookies and flipping through, I came across this recipe for Chocolate Surprise Cookies. Lo and behold, I had all of the ingredients on hand, including a bag of marshmallows that I bought a long time ago for something else and so I made it a plan to bake these on Motzei Shabbat. It was to be a marshmallow themed evening, right alongside the Marshmallow Candy Cups. It's funny because every time I hear the word marshmallow, I go back in time to my sixth grade spelling bee where my friend got out for spelling marshmallow with an "e" instead of an "a". Hard times for a sixth grader back then. Anyway, these cookies start with a cookie base. Towards the end of baking (making sure not to over bake the cookies!) a half a marshmallow is tucked into the middle and allowed to bake a minute longer. When they are cooled, a generous dollop of chocolate frosting is slathered on to conceal the marshmallow... thus becoming the surprise. Although there are a few steps, leaving alot of chocolatey dishes in their wake, this recipe really is pretty simple and the results, at least according to the soldiers who ate them, worth the effort.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Bars

I am on a serious condensed milk kick! I can not get enough of baking with this stuff so naturally I picked up a few more containers of it on my last supermarket run and baked something with it again. I turned to BHG's Biggest Book of Cookies and found alongside the previous recipe, this recipe for Chocolate and Peanut Butter Bars. The head note of this recipe sites this as healthful what with the oats and a bit of whole wheat flour, but who are they kidding? This recipe is rich and delicious and I'mt not ashamed! This is another really easy recipe to make- an oat mixture is made, some of it is set aside, but an egg is added to the rest of it to form the crust. I did make one mistake here and that is that I neglected to refrigerate the topping while I worked on the rest of the cookie. Due to the INSANE heat here in Jerusalem, it kind of melted altogether by the time it got into the oven instead of being a nice bar with a crumble topping. Oh well. I left these in the office on base and then left base to run some errands. When I got back these were demolished. Literally, to the last crumb. Success!

Super Easy Chocolate Bars

One measly post in June? I know. I will do better, starting with these Super Easy Chocolate Bars that I made for my soldiers two weeks ago. The recipe comes from Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Cookies and they didn't disappoint. This recipe was made in celebration of my finding mehadrin sweetened condensed milk in the supermarket. Woohoo! Words can not express my excitement at finding it and although expensive, it is worth every shekel. No longer will I have to skip over key lime pie recipes or any other drool inducing recipe that calls for this item. A new chapter of baking is opened, starting with these. True to their name, these bars begin with a shortbread like bottom, topped with a milk and chocolate mixture and topped with some reserved shortbread mixture. Yum.

Serendipity Deluxe Bars

I'll admit the name of this recipe is quite vague and doesn't give any indication as to what it actually is. In fact, when my soldiers asked me what I was feeding them, all I could say was..... some combination of shortbready, chocolatey, oaty goodness. Enough of a description? This recipe comes from Marcy Goldman's Passion for Baking and surprise, surprise it is a winner of a recipe. Sure there are three different layers to this bar cookie and it leaves ALOT of dishes in its wake, but so what? These rich, decadent bars made alot of people happy. The first layer up is shortbread. On top of that goes a chocolate truffle layer. After that is baked, a caramelly oat mixture seals the deal. According to Marcy, the chocolate and oat layers are supposed to magically switch places (hence the name serendipity) but that never happened to these (must be something in the Israeli air). Not complaining though because, well, no one knows the difference and the final product was far from ruined. These are kind of messy to eat and, as I said, decadent, so cut them on the small side. Set aside a nice chunk of time to make these, because while all the steps are easy, they are on the more time-intense side of things. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars

As is my usual, when I have a course going, I bake for my soldiers. The course ended yesterday, but for the last two weeks I have been bringing them treats. One of the things I brought them the first time was these simple, easy but delicious Peanut Butter Oat Bars.This recipe comes from Sunset Cookies, a book I came across in a used book shop some time ago. The classic topping of peanut butter and chocolate gets poured over an oat crust. The combination may seem odd at first, but it works. This really comes together in no time at all and if cut small, feeds a crowd. Or at least a few hungry soldiers. Feel free to garnish with peanuts. 

Alfajores

The very last cookie that I made before Pesach, the one that got the most enthusiastic review and I think the one I'm most proud of! I had some leftover dulce de leche sitting in the fridge after baking a birthday cake for one of my soldiers and the only thing I could think of to do with it was make Alfajores, the classic Argentinian cookie. Alfajores seem to be easy to make but Argentinians are very particular about them; getting the cookie to be the perfect melt-in-your-mouth texture isn't easy but I figured I'd make them anyway and leave the worry of authenticity behind. I turned to Micky Shemo's book for this recipe and seeing how many cookies it would yield opted to halve the recipe. (Even having halved it, I got PLENTY of cookies- guess it depends on how small you cut the cookies.) This recipe uses a generous amount of cornstarch which gives it its texture and also makes the dough a dream to work with. Bake these I cookies just until puffed and set- you're not going to get much color on these. As I mentioned, I used store bought dulce de leche but you can always make your own. As far as the coconut element, I rolled some in coconut and left some plain. Your call. Either way, you're going to have some happy campers, er, soldiers.

Coffee White Chocolate Refrigerator Cookies

These were the second type of cookie that I made during my pre-Pesach baking fest. It took me a while to find  a recipe that would make use of what I had left in the house but I finally found it in Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Cookies and I must say, I was quite surprised by how successful they were. The amount of espresso in the recipe was alarming so my expectations were quite low, even after I reduced the amount. I threw in whatever white chocolate chips I had left sitting around and took care to underbake them, ensuring a chewy, instead of crisp, cookie. The combination of white chocolate chips and coffee turned out to be a winning one, and the strength of the coffee was toned down by the baking. Needless to say, these cookies disappeared really fast. These cookies are slice and bake, refrigerator-style cookies, so if you're not interested in baking right away, or you're looking to bake cookies in advance, just stash the rolls in the freezer and bake as needed.

Almond Toffee Bars

Pesach is finally over! That means no more matzah and cream cheese (hello bread!), back to work, and hopefully, back to posting as well! This post and the next couple (when those will see the light of day, I don't know) are all cookies that I made before Pesach in an effort to get rid of as much chametz in my pantry as possible. I had some slivered almonds leftover and I thought to make these Almond Toffee Bars from my much loved and often used, King Arthur Flour Baking Companion. A tender, almond scented shortbread like crust is topped with a brown sugar topping and studded with almonds. These cookies are easy to make, feed a crowd and are incredibly addictive. I only made one change, and that was to use soy milk instead of regular milk, as that's what I had on hand. Also, the almond extract in the base is a bit overwhelming, giving the cookies a sort of coconut like flavor which was delicious, but I would reduce the amount next time.

Poppy Seed Cookies

 I supppose this will be my last post before Passover begins tonight! I can hardly believe it's here already, but the holiday is not the subject of this post; these Poppy Seed Cookies are. After making the Orange Poppy Seed Cake for Purim, I had leftover poppy seeds sitting in my fridge. I headed back to Marcy Goldman's Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking and decided to make this recipe. It seemed basic enough and I had all of the ingredients on hand. All it takes is one bowl and a whisk to whip this up plus a bit of chill time. I found these cookies to be addictive and delicious, crunchy and snappy, redolent of the best sugar cookies- the perfect accompaniment to tea or coffee. I love the look of the poppy seeds in the cookie but their flavor isn't so prominent in the finished product, which my friends actually appreciated; I guess the younger crowd isn't that fond of poppy seeds... I started shaping these cookies with a fluted cutter as Marcy shows in the book, but I decided that wasn't the best option for this soft dough, as the shape got ruined in the transfer. No matter how you cut 'em, though, these simple and unassuming cookies really are worthy of being made. Happy holidays!

Brownies with Chocolate-Cheesecake Topping

I know these pictures look like an oddly swirled lump of chocolate and something white but really these are brownies with a cheesecake and chocolate topping. I will admit, these look nothing like the beautiful picture in Carine Goren's Sweet Secrets, but they were pretty darn good. I made these also for my commander's surprise post-sheva brachot sheva bracha and by the next day, all the brownies were gone. I was a bit nervous about how the brownies would come out but they turned out to be dense and fudgy. The cream cheese layer is a bit thin (my pan was American size, I guess a bit larger than Israeli pans) and because I didn't let it chill sufficiently, the chocolate kind of muddled with the cheese. Instead of trashing the whole thing (which I totally would have done!) I just decided to swirl the whole thing and really no one was the wiser. Kind of messy to eat but worth getting chocolate on your chin for... and I'm not even a cheese person. It's really critical that your cheese and margarine for the filling is at room temperature or else they wont blend well enough. I made that mistake and had to strain the filling. Be smart though, give each layer enough to time to chill so that theyll come out picture-perfect.

S'mores Granola Bars

I know this is the second Smores themed recipe this month and that it looks exactly the same, but it is a different recipe, I promise! and better than the first, I think! I've wanted to make this for ages but never had all of the ingredients under one roof. I made it for dessert when I hosted lunch a while back and they were really well received. This recipe from the KAF Baker's Companion uses both oats and graham cracker crumbs and both of those flavors really come through in this chewy (from the syrup) yet slightly crunchy cookie. You also can't beat these for ease of preparation. If you're looking for (another!) nostalgic treat, try this one this holiday season. They would be totally welcome with a mug of hot cocoa, under a blanket, in front of a fire....

S'mores Squares

This is going to sound strange, but whenever I take a trip back home, I always feel the need to reacquaint myself with the baking books and recipe collections that I left behind (they'll make it here, eventually!). Searching for inspiration for my sister's Shabbat kallah was even more incentive to lovingly (alright, a bit exaggerated) go through it all. While I was looking, I came upon a pad of paper that had a bunch of recipes from I don't know where written down on it. Among them was a simple and fast recipe for Smores squares. I don't know where it came from, but I decided to make it for that weekend. I sent my mom out for the ingredients and whipped up a double batch. I thought they were delicious! I brought back the leftover ingredients to Israel (obviously! graham crackers and marshmallows are precious!) and made them for dessert last weekend. In America they were more bar cookie like and in Israel they were more shortbread-like but still delicious. It could be because I used a larger pan here and baked it a tad longer but still, these were yummy. I would prefer the softer option but any way you bake 'em these are a winning treat.

Sugar Kichel

Lichvod Shabbat kodesh, I am finally posting this shul classic, sugar kichel. Upon receiving my copy of Inside the Jewish Bakery, I immediately wanted to put it to work. I chose the sugar kichel because I knew one of my sisters adores it and I thought it would be a nice throwback to the the times we actually went to the bakery and brought them home to enjoy (instead of me baking). This recipe hit the nail on the head, an exact replica of the cookies we used to munch on- eggy, crunchy and sweet. My father was extremely impressed. The cookies aren't hard to make, but between rolling, shaping and baking, it is a bit of a long process-I was up very late putting them together and baking them off, but just for that bit of nostalgia, the result was well worth it.

Meringues

I have fond memories of meringues. I remember my mother whipping (ha) them up around Pesach time as a kid, biting, for the very first time, into a crispy cloud and discovering centers of chewy, melt-in-your-mouth sugariness. Fast forward to now-I owe the making of these cookies to my sister, Leiat. I had a surplus of egg whites after making sugar kichel (for another post!) and she asked me to make them. Now, I've made these simple cookies before and never felt the need to blog about them, but I used a technique for them that I've never used before so I decided to share it. This basic recipe comes from Al HaShulchan's first Chocolate book (which has finally returned with me to Israel!). The egg whites and sugar are first heated and then beaten. This step is no stranger to people who make buttercreams all the time, but I am not one of those people. This makes THE glossiest and most luscious meringue I have ever worked with. Pain in the neck or not, I will be making them this way from now on! Now, if you think there's too much sugar and the mixture will never form stiff peaks, fear not and beat on. It works! The original calls for grated milk chocolate, but keeping things parve, I decided to fold in some mini dark chocolate chips instead. Be sure to leave these in the oven to dry out fully. I took them out after 45 minutes but they were still wet inside. I returned them to the oven and let them cook a bit more and then turned the oven off to allow them to dry. And just so you know: the oven makes a great hiding spot for these if you need. No one ever thinks to look there!

ANZAC Biscuits

ANZAC biscuits. The name is totally off-putting but to call them oatmeal cookies wouldn't be accurate either. These cookies are thusly named because house wives would mail these egg-less (and therefore good keeping) cookies to their spouses serving in the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps during World War I. (Being someone who loooves to bake for soldiers, I love this back story!) These cookies contain coconut which most people arent really a fan of. That might explain why these weren't successful both times I made them and brought them to hosts. So why am I posting it anyway? Because I LOVED these cookies. I thought the coconut was subtle and that these cookies tasted like oatmeal cookies I remember as a kid only better! So what if no one else is on the coconut bandwagon? These are easy cookies to whip up and are delicious. The little bit of golden syrup adds a subtle but present caramelly, buttery goodness. It took me two times to get the cookie right. The first time I made them using rolled oats, my batter was too wet and my cookies spread like crazy. I suspected that it was because my rolled oats weren't absorbing moisture properly so I made them again using quick oats and just as I thought, perfect batter and cookies. I used Martha's recipe but added a bit more than a pinch of salt to the recipe. If you feel like it, add some chocolate chips to the dough. It won't be traditional, but it will still be delicious. Shabbat shalom!

World Peace Cookies

So obviously I'm the last person in the world to get around to making these now famous World Peace Cookies aka Korova Cookies from Pierre Herme, via Dorie Greenspan. Since you all already know how good they are, I don't think I need to tell you. These cookies may look humble, but they are anything but. They literally disappeared when I brought them to my sister for Rosh HaShana.
I didn't use the fleur de sel because I was afraid of scaring everyone away with it and I used a good quality dark chocolate that I chunked up myself. So nice and melty gooey when they came out of the oven with a crispy, shortbready, melt in your mouth texture... Seriously, if there's anyone else left in the universe that hasn't made these cookies yet, go on and make them. You'll be sorry you waited this long!