S'mores Cookies

Today is the birthday (and a special one at that) of one of my favorite people in the whole world - my mom.  I think a lot of people probably say this, but I am completely convinced I have the best mom in the whole world.  A lot of moms have trouble finding the balance between being a friend to your child, letting them make their own decisions, and teaching them to make good choices, even if that means acting strict at times.  My mom (and my dad for that matter) were able to find this balance really well, and I think it helped me to become the person I am today.  I am lucky to always be able to call my mom for advice and trust her to guide me when I have trouble making decisions on my own (even if it's just silly things like picking a moving company). She really is the best!!

In honor of my mom, I wanted to share this recipe for cookies in her favorite variety - s'mores.  Anyone who has ever been near a campfire (or even just a charcoal barbecue) knows my mom loves s'mores.  Mom isn't even a big dessert eater, but there are a few trips to Sebago Lake where I remember her eating quite a few s'mores.  The Monkey Scientist and I are headed to the beach this weekend, so I wanted to bring some s'mores for a beach snack.  This recipe was the perfect way to think of my mom all day at the beach!  Happy birthday, Mom!

This batter, by the way, is ridiculously tasty.  I definitely spoiled my dinner by tasting the dough.  You know, to make sure it wasn't poisoned.  Plus, look how cute the cookies came out!

S'mores Cookies

slightly adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures

Ingredients

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark but the original called for light)
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows (approximately, I didn't exactly measure how many I used)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (a beater blade is great here), cream the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture and beat just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Drop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-9 minutes (I did 1 tray at a time), then remove from the oven and quickly, but gently push a few marshmallows into the top of each cookie. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until the edges are set.
5. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.



PS - don't worry, I brought some cookie variety to the beach.  I also used my last bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs stored over from Easter to make Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies.  YUM!

What we had for dinner this week

OK I'm still behind on blogging.  I have no pretty pictures for you.  But I wanted to share the recipes we made this week to give you cooking inspiration!

Sunday night: Bibimbop from Cooking Light  We used steak instead of tofu (the Monkey Scientist is from the Midwest, I can't just be feeding him tofu!).  Bibimbop is my favorite Korean dish.  My favorite is from Kang's in Ann Arbor - I love how the hot stone makes the rice at the bottom crispy.  This recipe simulated it well by crisping up the rice in the cast iron skillet.  Lots of wonderful Asian flavors.

Monday night: Roasted Chicken with Red-Skinned Potatoes and Carrots
Washed a 5 1/2 lb chicken, covered in olive oil, chicken seasoning from the Christmas Tree Shop, and freshly ground black pepper, inside and out. Stuffed it with a lemon, cut in half.  Filled a dish with quartered potatoes and carrots (did nothing else to them beside clean and cut) and then put the chicken on top.  Baked at 475 for 25 minutes and then at 400 for 45 minutes.  I cooked it breast-side up for the first 45 minutes and then flipped it for the last 25.  Perfection, and still eating leftovers for lunch.

Tuesday night: We ate at Tesoro in Van Ness.  Not overly impressed.

Wednesday night: Spicy Chicken Thighs with Cucumber Avocado Salsa from Cookin' Canuck  - I'm now completely obsessed with this recipe.  Took 15 minutes to throw together, including cooking time, and tastes AMAZING.  The ancho chili powder (which I got at World Market) and cumin have almost a cinnamon-like spice to them.  The honey in the salsa is the perfect amount of sweetness and the lime gives just the right tang.  I loved the load of vegetables on top of the chicken - I didn't even need to make a grain to fill us up.  We made it on a cookie sheet with sprayed with olive oil rather than a rack and it was fine.  Definitely give this one a try!

Thursday night:  BBQ night!  Our friends have been organizing barbecues every Thursday at my apartment building.  This week I'm bringing Peanut Butter Cup S'mores Bars from Mel's Sweet Life.  The assembly wasn't so easy (forming that last bit into an 8x8 square? All I had was crumbs.)  But they've been sitting on my counter overnight and I'm quite confident they'll be delicious.

Hopefully I can get you some full recipes and pics over the weekend... I will do my best!

Graham Cracker Torte

One of my absolute favorite blogs is Eat, Live, Run.  I feel like I know Jenna from reading it all the time.  Jenna's photos are wonderful, her comments are witty, but more importantly her recipes are awesome.  I've reviewed many an ELR recipe here on yelleBELLYboo - kicked up meatloaf, ratatouille, turkey burgers with spinach and feta/goat cheese, blackberry and orange zest muffins, and whole wheat fig newtons to name a few - and for the most part I've enjoyed them all.  But since Jenna is a baker by trade, I needed to try more of her baked goods.




Recently, Jenna challenged herself to bake through her great-grandmother's recipe box.  I've enjoyed seeing all the interesting 1920s recipes she's trying, and was especially intrigued by this graham cracker torte, which her grandmother apparently had written up on multiple recipe cards.  I've never made a cake that actually doesn't have any flour - I had to give this one a shot.



Last year, I tried to make birthday cakes for everyone on my team at work.  It got to be a little too much work and I haven't done quite as well this year.  However, one of my coworkers has always been so nice - bringing me treats from the potato chip factory, getting an ice cream cake for another coworker's birthday, bringing me the coupons every week - so for her birthday another coworker and I decided to bake her this cake.  She's not a huge chocolate person (much like myself) so this cake seemed like something she would enjoy.



I have to admit, this cake isn't the easiest thing to make.  At one point, I had to use both my standing mixer and my hand mixer (maybe I should buy a 2nd bowl for my standing mixer?) and the steps seemed endless.  When I went to get the cakes out of the tins, it was an utter failure.  I wish I had lined the bottom with parchment.  In the end, once I added the whipped cream, you couldn't really tell what a mess I had made, but it wasn't exactly the gorgeous torte that Jenna assembled.  Plus I definitely cooked and curdled the eggs in the caramel and had to strain it, but I don't think it mattered too much in the end.



So even though this was absolutely not the prettiest cake I've ever made, the taste was outstanding.  The cake is somewhere between a sponge and a meringue, but nutty with a nice crunch.  The whipped cream made a perfect frosting to counteract the sweet caramel.  The birthday girl loved it and said she'd be making it again.  Our office finished it in record time - less than half an hour until the serving plate was licked clean.  Absolutely a hit!  I think I'm getting quite the reputation for making the best-tasting ugly cakes of all time - a reputation I'm just fine with!



Graham Cracker Torte
from Eat, Live, Run

Ingredients:
for torte:
6 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (a little less than two sleeves of graham crackers)

for caramel sauce:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
1 well beaten egg
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar

for assembly:
1 pint heavy cream

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Beat egg yolks until light and frothy (I used the whisk attachment of my standing mixer). Add sugar, baking powder and vanilla and continue to beat until very thick and pale in color. Set aside.
3. Beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Gently fold egg whites into egg yolks and then fold in the nuts and graham cracker crumbs.
4. Divide batter into two WELL GREASED 9-inch cake pans (I recommend putting a piece of parchment on the bottom of the pans as well) and bake for 35 minutes. Let cool before turning cakes out of pans onto plates or a counter top.
5. To make the caramel sauce, combine all ingredients in a saucepot and bring to a boil whisking the whole time. Don’t stop whisking or the egg will cook and curdle, which isn’t the end of the world (just strain the caramel through a mesh strainer after it cools) but it can be prevented by whisking constantly until the sauce is very thick and boiling. Remove sauce from heat and let cool completely.
6. To assemble the torte, whip the cream until it holds soft peaks. Spread whipped cream between graham cracker layers and over the top of the torte. Pour on the cooled caramel sauce and it let drip down the sides.
Keep the torte in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

S'mores Brownies

Do you ever have those days where you just feel like you need to pull a Sandra Lee?  You know, when you're craving a baked good but can't bring yourself to make it from scratch?



I totally just had one of those days.  Everything in this recipe (brownies, marshmallows, graham crackers) could totally be made from scratch.  And I totally encourage you to do that... if you have loads of time and energy on your hands.  I, obviously, did not.



Given my major shortcuts, the biggest difficulty in making these brownies is that I did it at the Monkey Scientist's new apartment.  Where he doesn't have any measuring cups.  Or sugar.  Not exactly the ideal baking environment, but we got creative.



Before I went over there, I measured out exactly 1/4 cup of sugar and ziploc-ed it.  Then, I filled a large shot glass with the sugar and marked where 1/4 cup was.  Fortunately, everything in this recipe was in increments of 1/4 cup (1/2 cup, 1 cup) so it worked out perfectly...although it felt a bit chaotic at the time.



The best part of baking at the MS's apartment? I didn't have these brownies on my counter all week.  If I did, I probably would have eaten the whole tray.  They were hard enough to resist when I was at his place!  I should warn you to really watch the marshmallows - I put them in for 2 min and opened the door to release a cloud of smoke...and then had to peel off the top layer of marshmallows.  Totally worth it - they were delicious.



S'mores Brownies
from BrownEyedBaker

Ingredients:
for the Graham Cracker Crust
3 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used from a box, here's a homemade recipe)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

for the Brownies
1 batch brownie batter (I used from a box, here's a homemade recipe)
1 bag mini marshmallows (or make your own)
Additional graham crackers, broken into pieces

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9x13-inch baking pan.  Line the pan with foil, leaving some overhang, and then butter the foil; set aside.

2. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, salt, and sugar, mixing well.  Add the melted butter and, using a fork, toss until the entire mixture is moist. Dump the graham cracker mixture into the prepared baking pan, pressing it into an even layer. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

3. Meanwhile, prepare your brownie recipe. Pour the brownie batter over the cooked graham cracker crust, spreading it into an even layer. Bake the brownies according to the directions.

4. As soon as the brownies come out of the oven, switch the oven to broil.  Pour the bag of mini marshmallows onto the brownies, covering it in an even layer. Pop the pan back into the oven for a minute or two.  KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THEM - you want them to char so you get that s'mores flavor but they will burn quickly.

5. Cool completely and then cut into squares.  Store at room temperature in an airtight container.