Chocolate Croissants

It's so good to be back! I haven't been able to post in a while because I've been at school. While I'm pretty lucky to have a full kitchen on my floor, I haven't done much with it yet - until recently. We've had a spree of birthdays on the floor in the last couple weeks, and I've discovered a few new treats that are quick and easy to make in a dorm kitchen with just a few ingredients. My favorite is this recipe for chocolate croissants. The dark chocolate provides a nice flavor contrast to the sweetness of the Nutella, but this recipe would would definitely work with milk chocolate as well. They are absolutely wonderful, and are ready in under half an hour. The croissants are best served warm, while the chocolate is still melted and delicious. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe:

• 2 tubes of Pillsbury crescent rolls
• 13 oz. jar of Nutella
• 7 oz. dark chocolate (or about 2 large bars)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Unwrap and spread the croissant triangles out onto a baking sheet, and spread a teaspoon of Nutella on each one down the center. Be careful not to spread the Nutella close to the edges of the triangles, as this will be tricky to work with later.
3. Place a rectangle of chocolate on the wide end of the triangle.

4. Fold the corners on the wider end of the triangle in towards each other, so that they touch the bar of chocolate. The idea is to make a pouch that will contain the bar when it melts.

5. Roll the triangle from the wide end to the thin tip to form a croissant shape.

6. Place the croissants on a  baking sheet, and bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Allow them to cool for about 5 minutes on a cookie rack or a plate before serving!

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls are delicious, gooey, wonderful morsels that taste perfect just about any time of day. I found a recipe for homemade rolls on The Pioneer Woman's blog and tried them out. Much to the delight of friends and family (this recipe yields more than enough to share with a friend or four or even more), I made this recipe over several times until I had tinkered with the measurements and found what I liked. These rolls are perfect on a cold winter day, but I recently made them as a thank you gift, and they were much appreciated in July too. The recipe yields 5-7 pans of deliciousness. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe:

• 4 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 quart milk
• 2  3/4 cups sugar
• 1 packet (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast
• 9 cups all-purpose flour + additional for sprinkling
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• plenty of cinnamon

1. Heat one quart of milk in a pan on low heat. Once warm, add in 2 sticks of melted butter and 3/4 cup of sugar. Stir until scalded (just before the boiling point) and then set aside.

2. Once the milk mixture has cooled to a lukewarm temperature, add 1 packet of active-dry yeast. Meanwhile, whisk together 8 cups of all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.

3. Pour the yeast and milk mixture in and knead the dough until combined. Cover the dough and let it sit for about an hour.

4. While the dough is sitting, whisk up some cinnamon sugar. Combine 1 cup of sugar and as much cinnamon as you like. Don't be afraid to go a little crazy with the cinnamon!

This could use a little more cinnamon - so your mixture should be darker.

5. Add one more cup of flour to the dough and knead until completely combined. Split the dough into two roughly equal halves. Also, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

6. Take one half of the dough and roll it out onto a well floured surface. The dough should be rectangular and about a quarter inch thick, with a width of 9-10 inches.

Took my pictures a bit out of order, so here's my assembly station!

7. Melt one stick of butter.

8. Pour it onto your rectangle of dough, and brush over the entire surface until it gleams.You can use a pastry brush or a spoon or anything handy. 

9. Next, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the entire rectangle.

10. Start to roll the dough from the longer end, working carefully until you have a cinnamon log, and pinch the seam slightly when finished.

11. Chop slices off the log, roughly half an inch in thickness.

12. Grease 9 inch circular baking pans. Arrange cinnamon rolls in the pans, cover, and allow to rise for 20 minutes. Repeat steps 6-12 for remaining dough

13. Bake the rolls for about 20 minutes (time will vary by oven). Let it cool for about 20 minutes on a plate, and serve warm!

Part of my batch - they get eaten pretty quickly!

Mixed Berry Cobbler

I love fresh berries - they're definitely one of the best parts of summer. I saw a recipe for blueberry cobbler in Cook's Illustrated's Baking Book, and thought it would be nice to change the recipe a little and add strawberries and raspberries as well. It tasted so delicious that I will be making it again for a 4th of July party this weekend! The recipe would really work with any mix of berries, as long as the weight of the fruit adds up to about 30 ounces. This cobbler is wonderful: sweet and juicy, with just the right amount of tart. I love serving it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe:

For the filling

• 16 ounces fresh strawberries
• 8 ounces blueberries
• 8 ounces raspberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1tbsp. lemon juice & zest of half a lemon

For the topping

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt.
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• zest of half a lemon

1. Place rimmed baking sheet in the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Wash and slice strawberries. Place them in a large bowl. 

3. Wash blueberries and raspberries as well. Add them to the strawberries, along with sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and zest. Combine, and allow the berries to sit in the sugar mixture for about half an hour. 

Extra picture because the fruit looks absolutely gorgeous 

Ready to mix!

4. Add the fruit to a pie plate and bake for 25 minutes. 

5. While the fruit is baking, - start to work on the biscuit topping. Whisk flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. 

Whisking the dry ingredients actually works to sift them together!

6. Melt 4 tbsp. of butter fully. In a large bowl, whisk 1/3 cup of buttermilk, lemon zest, and vanilla extract with  melted butter.

7. One minute before the fruit comes out of the oven, combine wet and dry ingredients. Whisk quickly until just combined.

8. Once fruit has been taken out of the oven, increase the temperature to 425 degrees. Combine the dough into a large ball with your hands, then split into 8 roughly shaped even spheres.

9. Arrange balls of dough on the pie plate of baked fruit. Leave about an inch between each piece, as the dough will expand while baking.

10. Bake for about 18 minutes, turning the around halfway through to ensure even baking. The cobbler is done when the biscuits are a light golden brown on top, and the fruit is bubbling (as shown below). Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

Garlic Bread

Warm garlic bread can taste heavenly with salad, pasta, or all by itself. This homemade version is extra flavorful, with herbs added for a slightly brighter flavor. It is very easy to make, and comes together in about 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe:

• 1 loaf ciabatta bread
• 6 cloves of garlic
• olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 cup parsley
• 1 stick melted butter
• 1/8 pinch red chilli powder (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat about a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan. Mince garlic, and add to the pan. Sautée for about a minute.

I made two loaves, so this is twice as much garlic as you'll need for the recipe

2. Wash and chop the parsley. Add to the pan along with salt and chilli powder. Stir for about a minute, then take the pan off heat.

3. Cut the loaf of ciabatta lengthwise. 

4. In a medium bowl, melt a stick of butter. While it's melting, line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place the bread on it, and spoon butter evenly over both halves of the loaf.

5. Take the garlic mixture from the pan, and spread it evenly over the bottom half of the loaf. 

6. Wrap the loaf in foil. Place it on the baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes.

7. Then, unwrap, and bake for another 5 minutes. Allow it to cool for 5-10 minutes, and serve sliced.

Mushroom & Leek Galette

Galettes are rustic open tarts that you can fill with all sorts of combinations of fruit or vegetables. I made a savory mushroom and leek version for dinner tonight with some goat cheese that we had, and it turned out delicious. I used frozen pie crust because we happened to have it on hand, but if you want to make it completely by hand, Martha Stewart's recipe for pâte brisée is simple and fabulous. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe:

• 6 oz. shiitake mushrooms
• 8 ounces crimini mushrooms
• 1/2 medium white onion
• olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. red chile powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 pound (3 cups) leeks
• 1  1/2 tbsp. cream cheese
• 1/2 tbsp. milk
• pie crust (make sure you have one without sugar in the ingredients list!)
• all-purpose flour
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• grated parmesan and pepper for serving (optional)

1. Wash mushrooms. Remove stems and slice thinly. 

2. Peel onion and slice it thinly. Heat a little olive oil on a skillet and sautée the onions until they are soft and golden brown like this:

3. Add mushrooms, chile powder, and salt. Cook off all the water from the mushrooms.

Fresh Mushrooms...

All cooked down!

4. Slice leeks into 1/2 inch pieces and rinse them thoroughly in water to get rid of all the dirt. Add to the skillet and cook until slightly browned.

I used frozen leeks - fresh ones weren't available.

Once again, all cooked down!

5. Whip together cream cheese and milk, and add it to the vegetable filling. You could use 2 tbsp. of creme fraiche, but I didn't have any on hand. 

6.Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a baking stone inside to warm

7.  Sprinkle all-purpose flour liberally onto a work surface. Roll out  pie dough into a circle, approximately 14 inches across. Don't worry about uneven edges! Galettes are meant to be rustic, and slightly raggedy edges will just give your tart character :). Just remember to try to cover up cracks in the folding process later on. 

Giant cracks like this one can be covered up later.

8. Foil and grease a rimmed baking sheet. Place crust on the sheet, and then spoon half of the vegetable mixture on top. Crumble 2 ounces of goat cheese on top. Make sure to leave at least 1 - 1 1/2 inches between the filling and the edge of the galette dough. 

9. Top with the remaining vegetable filling, and then the rest of the goat cheese, crumbled.

10. Tuck in one piece of the dough, as shown below, and then brush one corner with a little water.

The folds don't have to be of even length. 

Brush the dough enough to make it sticky - but not too much!

11. Fold the dough over the filling again, lightly pressing it into the wet dough. Brush again with water to seal. 

12. Repeat until the crust of the whole tart is closed.

13. Turn the oven down to 375, and then bake for 35 minutes, until the crust is hard and golden. Allow it to cool before slicing, and serve with a light sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Mocha Bread Pudding

This dessert is a delicious take on the concept of bread pudding. It comes together with very little effort, and tastes wonderful with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a dollop of freshly whipped cream. I originally found this in the April 2009 edition of "Mix", a dining magazine we receive along with our newspaper. I've made this family favorite many times, and have added a few tweaks along the years. I thought it would be fun to share on here!

I haven't quite figured out how I want to integrate pictures onto this blog, so for now, I'll have a series of pictures at the end, after the recipe.

Here's the recipe:

• 1 loaf challah bread, or 1 medium loaf of white bread
• 2 cups half & half
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp fine coffee powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup whipping cream (can be substituted with milk)
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar + 1 tbsp to sprinkle (optional)
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Meanwhile, cut the bread into 1" cubes and spread onto rimmed, foil-lined baking sheets. Set in the oven to toast for 20 minutes. 

While the bread is toasting, whisk together half & half, coffee powder, cocoa powder, and salt in a saucepan on low heat. Bring to a simmer, being very careful to whisk often to prevent it from sticking or curdling. Take off heat and set aside. 

Chop the bittersweet chocolate into fine pieces. Next, add chocolate, whipping cream, brown sugar, and eggs one at a time to the cooled half & half mixture. Whisk together thoroughly until completely combined. Place the toasted bread cubes in a large bowl and pour the pudding mixture over it, stirring carefully to combine. Allow the bread to sit in the pudding for about 3 minutes, and the transfer to a greased, oven-proof 13" x 9" pan. At this point, you can sprinkle the additional tablespoon of brown sugar on top of the pudding if you wish. Bake for 45 minutes at 325 degrees, until the top is slightly crispy. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. 

Challah Bread

Pudding mixture with chopped chocolate

Ready to bake!