Peanut Butter Brownie Pie

Look. Let's get real for a minute. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and if you are even halfway alive you are aware that the world (and certainly the blogosphere) is exploding with pink, red, and hearts. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a hater of Valentine's Day, I'm not making an intentional boycott of all things heart shaped here on Stephanie Cooks, I'm just getting to the real meaning of the day: CHOCOLATE. John learned early on to save the flowers and go straight for the milky chocolate goodness.

I made this dessert for my mother's birthday and I am willing to bet it was my biggest hit yet. My family raved and raved about this, and I must say I understand why. The brownie layer was dense, fudgy, and chocolate rich. The peanut butter mousse was a light contrast to the dense brownie. Paired together it was like I died and went to heaven.

One bit of advice. Use a deep pie crust. I did, and I still couldn't fit all of the peanut butter mousse on top. Which means I have a nice container full of this stuff to use up... get ready, I'm sure I'll come up with a way. OH and if you're not sick of me, one MORE bit of advice- make this for your Valentine. Show someone you love them with this. Nothing says "I love you" like rich fattening desserts... believe me on this one.

Source: Slightly adapted from What's Cookin' Chicago?

Ingredients:
1 deep dish pie crust (I used a frozen one)
1 15.5 oz. brownie mix
1/4 cup peanut butter chips
1/3 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons water
1 egg
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 container (8 oz.) whipped topping

Directions:
1- Heat oven to 350.
2- In a large bowl combine the brownie mix, egg, oil, water, and peanut butter chips. Stir well to combine and until completely incorporated.
3- Pour into pie crust, bake for 35-40 minutes, until cooked through. (Cover pie crust with tin foil after 20 minutes if it starts to burn)
4- Cool for 20 minutes, then refrigerate for an hour.
5- In a stand mixer combine the cream cheese, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. Beat until completely incorporated.
6- Fold in the whipped topping, until completely combined.
7- Top the brownie with peanut butter mousse and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve cold.

Sweet Soy Glazed Chicken and Onions

I've got a thing for making "Chinese" food at home. It's weird too because I don't go out for Chinese often, or even order it in that frequently. But I do love making it at home, and best of all I love eating it at home.

This recipe had been stored in the deep, dark, depths of my Google Reader for a long long time now. I wasn't sure what to make with chicken, but I knew I wanted something Chinese-y, so I searched "soy sauce" and this baby popped up. OH.MAH.GOSH. It was so good. It was so much better than I ever expected. I figured it would be adequate, but no, this far surpassed adequate. It was perfect. The chicken was nice and tender, the sauce perfectly coated it, and the onions added just the right amount of flavor. I can assure you I will be making this again... probably soon.

Source: Crepes of Wrath

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 an onion, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Green onions, sliced small (optional)


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line and/or grease a 9×13 baking pan and add the cut-up chicken and sliced onions. Set aside.

2. In a medium sauce pan, whisk together the cornstarch and water until completely smooth. Add in the rest of the ingredients and whisk until combined, bring to a simmer, and allow to cook until thickened, about 8 minutes. Make sure you keep stirring everything so it doesn’t burn while it cooks.

3. Pour the sauce over the chicken and stir to make sure everything is well coated. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until everything is cooked through. Serve over rice, with noodles, or with steam veggies. Top with green onions, if desired.  Serves 2-3.

Buttermilk Waffles

So a few weeks ago I asked on my facebook fan page if anyone had a recommendation for a waffle iron and waffle recipe. I quickly took notes, ran to the store, and got a lovely waffle iron. Is there anything better than waffles? Well, yes... chocolate... but you get my point.

I received many awesome suggestions and bookmarked most of them for later use. I didn't go with any of the suggestions (John would laugh at this- I always ask him for restaurant suggestions and then ignore his opinions... what can I say?) but these waffles were great. I was really looking for a simple, classic recipe. Nothing fancy, nothing exciting. Just a classic waffle. And these were perfect. I love that I now have a bag of these in the freezer for later use. Yum.

Source: Martha Stewart

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 stick butter, melted
2 large eggs
Vegetable oil or cooking spray for the waffle iron

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 275 and set a cookie sheet on the lower rack.
2- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, butter, and eggs; add flour mixture, and mix just until batter is combined.
3- Heat waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions; brush with oil or cooking spray. Pour batter onto iron (amount depends on iron size), leaving a 1/2-inch border on all sides (spread batter if necessary). Close iron; cook until waffles are golden brown and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to rack in oven to keep warm; repeat with remaining batter.

Cinnamon Glazed Doughnuts

Hi, my name is Stephanie, and I am here to confess my sins some facts about me.  You just need to know these things.

1- I buy butter, sugar, chocolate chips, and vanilla extract at Costco. Yes- I buy metric tons of them, and go through multiple Costco trips of each a year. I'd buy flour there too if it wouldn't take up half my house.
2- I collect random cooking items, like doughnut pans, just because.
3- Sometimes, at 8:00 on a Thursday night, I just need to bake. And sometimes that results in doughnuts.
4- I'm on the school nutrition committee, yet I fed these doughnuts to my students. This clearly was not nutritious. In my defense I only gave each kid 1/3 of a doughnut, which probably makes me the meanest teacher EVER. (Right guys?! I know you're reading this! My students just discovered my blog and now read it daily, much to my dismay and humble embarrassment.)

So back to the business of doughnuts. If you're a fan of my facebook fan page this picture must look quite familiar. And let me tell you, these things are good stuff. It was my first time making doughnuts and these were a success. They are super pretty and quite easy to make. They were a bit... cakey... but that wasn't an issue. They tasted like a cross between a cupcake and a doughnut, and pardon me for asking, but can you imagine anything more amazing?

If you don't have a doughnut pan they are a cheap investment. (Really cheap if you convince your sister to buy them for you for the holidays like I did- Thanks Melly!) But in all honesty, they are about $10 a pan and you will use them over and over again. Well worth the investment, and much healthier than frying them.

Source: Doughnuts adapted from For The Love of Cooking, Glaze from this post

Doughnuts:
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp canola oil

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 450.
2- Stir the dry ingredients together. Add the egg, vanilla, and milk then whisk together for 1 minute. Add the oil and continue to whisk until well combined.
3- Grease the muffin tins. Fill each 2/3 of the way. Bake for 7-9 minutes. Cool completely before icing. Yields 10 doughnuts.


Icing 
Ingredients:
1 1/8 cup powdered sugar
3/4 tbsp. light corn syrup
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1-3 tbsp. water


Directions:
1- Whisk the first four ingredients together. Add the water slowly until it reaches the desired consistency. 
2- Spoon over the doughnuts. Top with sprinkles, if interested. 

Garlic Spaghetti

My Sunday routine is pretty set. I tutor in the morning, I come home, I cook and bake all day, and I avoid doing laundry like it's the plague. That's just the way it is here in my little ol' house.

Well, the past few weeks my schedule has been completely thrown off! My father, who is the best EVER, has been redoing our kitchen and guess what day he comes? Yup, you guessed it... Sunday. So since he's been here sanding and grouting and laying tile I have been exiled to the living room. Since I can't actually cook and bake my Sundays away I've been watching others do it on the Food Network. The other day Melissa d'Arabian was making this simple spaghetti recipe and I just knew I needed to make it. I was immediately enticed when I saw that she slow cooked the garlic for 30 minutes before adding the tomatoes. I added it to our next weekly menu and made it.

 I am happy to report that this dinner was excellent! I halved both the oil and the butter because it called for an insane amount of each, and it was still unreal. The recipe below is what I did, but if you feel like playing fast and loose with the rules (and your hips) feel free to click on the original and make the original. I'm sure the extra oil and butter make it that much more rich and delicious. This is a great weeknight meal and perfect for when you want a simple meal.

Source: Adapted from Melissa d'Arabian

Ingredients:

9 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp. butter
1 (15 oz) can crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1/2 lb.- 1 pound spaghetti, cooked (I used 1/2 lb. of perciatelli- it's long and thick with a hollow center)
1 tbsp. dried basil

Directions:

1- In a saucepan combine the garlic and oil. Heat over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2- Add the butter until melted. Stir in the tomatoes, basil, and season with salt and pepper.
3- Heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4- Toss in the cooked spaghetti. Serve hot.

Thick, Chewy Granola Bars

These are the best granola bars in the world. Yes. I am making that broad of a claim. These are the best granola bars I have ever, ever eaten. And trust me- I've eaten my fair share of granola bars.

Let's get into it, shall we? These are soft yet firm. I'm not sure how, but they are. The edges bake up crisp. The possibilities of mix ins are endless. They are quite healthy and you can feel good about eating them. They are pretty. They are the best granola bars ever.

What I really love about this recipe is that you can keep the base ingredients the same but change out your sweetener, change your mix ins, and next thing you know you have a whole new recipe. I think the only thing that I didn't love about these is that I gave half of them to my dad- I wish I kept them all! We went through them so quickly that I am already thinking about the next batch I'm going to make.

Just a little tip- I took my nuts and put them in the food processor to pulse them down to little bits. I kept the fruit whole but I chopped up the nuts and I really like how the small pieces of nuts spread throughout. If you don't have a food processor you could always put them in a zipper bag and roll them with a rolling pin. It's worth the extra effort.

Source: Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats
1/2 to 3/4 cup granulated sugar, depending on how sweet you want them
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 to 3 cups dried fruits and nuts- *List of suggestions below (I used 1 cup mixed craisins/raisins, and 1 cup cashews/almonds/pumpkin seeds -altogether, not each- pulsed small)
1/3 cup peanut butter or another nut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup honey, maple syrup or corn syrup (I used honey)
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8″ x 8″ x 2″ pan with nonstick spray.

Over low heat melt the butter. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth.

Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter/peanut butter mix, liquid sweeteners and water. Toss the wet ingredients with the dry until the mixture is evenly crumbly. 

Spread in the prepared pan, pressing them in firmly to ensure they are molded to the shape of the pan. 

Bake the bars for 30 to 40 minutes, until they’re brown around the edges — don’t be afraid to get a little color on the tops too. They’ll still seem soft and almost underbaked when you press into the center of the pan but do not worry, they’ll set completely once completely cool.

Cool the bars in their pan completely on a cooling rack. Cut with a serrated knife.

*Suggestions: Dried cranberries, apricots, raisins, peanut butter chips, cashews, almonds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, pecans, sunflower seeds, coconut, walnuts, sesame seeds, pepitas, dried apples or even chocolate chips. 

Spiced Chipotle Honey Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

Look, I'll admit it- I'm obsessed with chipotles in adobo. It all started with this carmelized chipotle chicken and then steadily increased with this pulled chicken. What was once an unheard of ingredient in my house has become a pantry staple. And with that said, any recipe that appears in my Google reader using chipotles in adobo is immediately added to my "must make" list.

This dinner was excellent. The day I planned to make it I was feeling cranky lazy uninspired and was contemplating just ordering in Thai food... but then I remembered my New Year's resolution to cook more and waste less... so off to the kitchen I went. And my oh my- am I glad I did. This dinner had a perfect blend of flavors. Spicy and sweet. Delicious. It was a big hit with John and I. The sweet potatoes were amazing. I guess I'm finally warming up to those funny orange potatoes and getting over my white-potatoes-only thing. Give this a shot- it's a really tasty and satisfying meal.

Source: Pink Parsely

Ingredients:


4 sweet potatoes (10 ounces each), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
3 Tbs olive oil
4 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs honey, plus more for drizzling
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs)
chopped cilantro, for garnish


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place the sweet potatoes in a medium bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, chipotles, garlic, honey, vinegar, salt, cumin, and cinnamon.  Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil with 2 teaspoons of the paste.  Toss with the sweet potatoes.

Scatter the potatoes on the bottom of a roasting pan, and bake 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, rub the chicken breasts with the remaining paste.

Stir the potatoes.  Carefully place the chicken on top of the sweet potatoes, and continue to roast until the chicken is just cooked through (registers 165 on an instant read thermometer), about 15-20 minutes longer

Divide the potatoes and chicken evenly among serving plates and drizzle with remaining honey and garnish with cilantro.