biscoff cookie dough bites

I have had an unopened container of Biscoff sitting in my pantry since Christmas. I had been searching for it the past year in Charlotte with no luck but finally found it in California when I was visiting my parents over Christmas. I think I did a little dance in the middle of the Whole Foods aisle when I found it, that stuff is not easy to get your hands on! So once I got home, I pushed it to the back of my pantry to save for a special occasion since I felt 99% sure it wouldn't show up in Charlotte anytime soon. And then, a few weeks ago... I found the creamy and crunchy versions of Biscoff at Wal-Mart! Of all places! So now that I know I have access to an unlimited supply of Biscoff I decided to break into the jar I had from Christmas. I wouldn't have used any of the Biscoff until I knew I could easily find more. Just like I don't want to wear my favorite sandals too often because I know when they get worn out I won't be able to find them again. Tell me I'm not the only one that thinks like this. 

For all of you that can't find Biscoff, Trader Joe's started selling a cookie butter that is very very similar. And for those of you that don't have a Trader Joe's near you, I'm sorry! But you can order Biscoff online. It's worth searching out, so delicious and addicting. If you can manage to not eat the entire Biscoff jar by the spoonful then you have to try these cookies. These cookie dough balls are perfectly undercooked. I love the baked cookie chewy exterior and the cookie dough middle, can't get much better! And the fact that they are bite sized, makes it that much easier to justify eating half the batch. 

Biscoff Cookie Dough Bites

makes 30 cookie dough bites, using a 1 inch cookie scoop

2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp butter, softened

1/2 c. biscoff spread (you could use peanut butter if you don't have biscoff)

1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed

1/4 c. granulated sugar

 2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c.semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used mini's)

Preheat oven to 350°F. 

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter, biscoff, and sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat together until combined. Add the remaining half of the flour mixture and mix until the dough just comes together. Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop into balls using a 1 inch cookie scoop or use your hands to roll the dough into balls. Place cookie balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 8-11 minutes. Let cool and set on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. 

Note: the cookies will seem under baked when they come out of the oven, don't worry they will set up! 

Recipe adapted from: The Novice Chef

caramelized onion, bacon & gruyere cheese monkey bread

I feel like I haven't been in my kitchen in forever. Sadly, I think it's mostly due to the fact that I've been lazy but I did get a chance to think up some super delicious recipes. This savory monkey bread is my absolute favorite, I couldn't wait to share! I'd sadly never heard of monkey bread until this past year, much less tried it. I'm not sure how I went twenty-three years without ever trying it considering I'm a cinnamon sugar freak. I'm going to blame it on my parents as I've realized they never introduced me to monkey bread or sausage balls. Have you ever had a sausage ball? It's just bisquick, sausage and cheese, served warm and so addicting. I love and hate when coworkers bring them into work because I have no self restraint. I do have to give my parents some credit though, they have always encouraged me to try new foods so I'm thankful for that!

This savory monkey bread is inspired by well-known baker, Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar. In her cookbook, she has a recipe for Volcanoes which are large homemade bread bowls filled with caramelized onions, bacon, scalloped potatoes and then stuffed with Gruyere cheese. My family made these for Easter breakfast this year and they were awesome. They just took forever to make from start to finish. There are tons of steps to all of her recipes. Each step is totally worth it in the end but I wanted to find a way to create something similar but easier. This savory monkey bread does require some prep work but once you have the onions caramelized, the bacon cooked and the butter melted, it is a quick assembly. I absolutely love the caramelized onion, bacon and Gruyere cheese flavor combination and all of them stuffed inside pizza dough only makes it that much better.

Caramelized Onion, Bacon & Gruyere Cheese Monkey Bread
makes 4 small ramekins

for the monkey bread:
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 tbsp oil
5 strips of cooked bacon, diced
1 1/2 c. Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 can of pizza dough (I used Pillsbury from the refrigerated section of the grocery store)

for the garlic rosemary butter:
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp garlic
2 tsp rosemary, removed from stem

Preheat oven to 350°F. 

Melt butter in small pan over medium heat and then add garlic, saute garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add in rosemary and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Brush inside of ramekins or loaf pan with this garlic rosemary butter mixture and then set remaining butter aside.

In a separate pot, over medium-high heat add oil. Once oil is hot, add in onions and cook for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown, stirring every 4-5 minutes. Set onions aside.

Pull off large marble-sized pieces of pizza dough and flatten each one. Then place a small amount of onions, bacon pieces, and gruyere cheese in the middle of the flattened dough ball. Wrap the dough around the onions, bacon and cheese, pinching well to seal the ball shut.

Lightly brush each pizza ball with the melted garlic/butter/rosemary mixture.

Repeat until all the pizza dough has been used. Add pizza balls to your baking dish of choice. Sprinkle top with gruyere cheese.

For ramekin sized monkey bread, bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is very brown.

Note: If you want to make this into a bundt sized monkey bread, double the recipe and bake for 35-40 minutes.

peanut butter cookies

I am guest posting for Erin at The Spiffy Cookie today, go check it out to get the recipe for these yummy peanut butter cookies!

s'mores swirl brownies

I never knew I loved s'mores so much until I started this blog. First there was the s'mores pizza (deeeelicious) then there were the giant s'mores cookies and most recently, I made these white chocolate s'more cake bars. Now I'd like to introduce a new favorite, s'mores swirl brownies. These brownies are rich, gooey and a bazillion times better than boxed versions and almost as easy to make. I was determined to make these brownies with things I needed to use up in my kitchen. I had mini graham cracker pie crusts I needed to use, a small jar of marshmallow fluff that would need to be eaten by spoonfuls if I didn't bake with it soon and a huge milk chocolate Toblerone bar (thanks Kavel). The s'mores swirl adds a slightly chewy texture and even though the graham cracker crumbs were ground up finely, you could still taste them perfectly. I was so happy with how these turned out. I'm just hoping next time I make these they last long enough for me to have one with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

S'mores Swirl Brownies
makes 4 very large brownies (8x8 pan)

1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 c. chopped chocolate chunks (I used milk chocolate)
1 c. marshmallow fluff
3/4 c. graham cracker crumbs

Note: I think these brownies would be great with all types of chocolate, for example Hershey's Kisses or dark chocolate. Get creative!

Preheat oven to 350°F. 

Grease or line with parchment paper an 8x8 square pan. Chop your chocolate.

Melt the butter. Beat in sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Once the mixture is combined, add in the cocoa powder, flour, salt, baking powder and blend until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chunks. Pour batter in to pan and spread evenly. 

Melt marshmallow fluff in a microwavable safe bowl for 10-20 seconds or until it is drizzle consistency. Drizzle the fluff over the brownie batter. Then sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over the marshmallow fluff. Using a toothpick, swirl the marshmallow and graham crackers together.

Bake brownies for 35-45 minutes or until middle of the brownies don't jiggle anymore.

cinnamon - crusted banana bread pancakes

Happy National Pancake Day!

Ok it's really only National Pancake Day at IHOP but I had originally scheduled this post to go up later this week but decided I just had to post it today to celebrate! I don't make pancakes very often because I got spoiled eating nutella and banana filled pancake bites (ebelskivers) at my parents house, that normal, flat pancakes just didn't cut it. But now I take that all back. These pancakes are my new go-to weekend breakfast because they were easy (thank you bisquick) and tasted like fluffy banana bread sprinkled with a warm, sugary cinnamon streusel ... only better, somehow. The pancakes have the perfect amount of banana flavor without being overpowering and the cinnamon crust is the best thing ever. The cinnamon streusel melts into the pancake and creates a slightly crunchy topping. It's reminds me of the cinnamon topping on the cinnamon crunch bagel at Panera, pure cinnamon heaven. I'm already looking forward to Sunday morning because I will definitely be making these again.

Cinnamon-Crusted Banana Bread Pancakes
makes 8 large pancakes

for the cinnamon streusel

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

6 tbsp cold butter, cut into chunks

for the pancakes
2 c. bisquick
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1 c. milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
2 bananas, mashed

To make the cinnamon streusel,  combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Mix together with your hands or a fork until it is well combined and crumbly.

To make the pancakes, whisk together bisquick, brown sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl,  whisk together milk, eggs and vanilla until combined and then stir into the flour mixture. Stir in mashed bananas until batter is combined.

Heat a pan to medium low and coat with coking spray. Drop 1/3 cup of batter onto the heated pan and then sprinkle 3 tbsp of the cinnamon streusel on top. Cook on the first side until bubbles begin to form, about 2-3 minutes. Flip pancake over and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat this process with the remaining batter.

Cinnamon Streusel recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod

spicy black bean soup

I can't wait until I regularly cook for someone other than myself. Usually I don't mind cooking for just myself but after making this soup today, I wanted to call all my friends over for dinner. Which by the way, might not be enough people to finish all the soup I had. If I ate all this soup, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to eat another black bean for years. So I threw a container or two or three in the freezer. I'm not much of a freezer person because I never think it tastes as good as the first time around but this soup is an exception. It freezes perfectly, just pour it into a freezer bag and pull it out when you need a quick meal.  

Ok and I have to say it is hard to make black bean soup look as tasty as it really is. Especially when it's pureed. I texted my boyfriend a picture of the soup and his response was something along the lines of 'where are the black beans?' I know you can't see them but they are there, just pureed, ok! This soup is super healthy and surprisingly leaves me feeling happy and satisfied. The best part about this low-cal, high fiber soup is you can afford to throw on some less healthy toppings. I can easily justify topping it with an entire avocado (versus my usual half) or as shown in the picture, a pile of queso fresco. 

Oh and did I mention I gave up carbs for Lent? Really just flour and potatoes. I don't like to talk about it because it just reminds me of what I can't eat but I'm happily accepting no carb recipe suggestions.

Spicy Black Bean Soup
makes 6 servings

3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped (about 3 cups)
1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, finely diced
1/2 tsp salt
6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
2 bay leaves
2 ham hock slices (see note below)

1 15 oz. can of diced tomato

2 15 oz. cans of black beans

4 cups chicken broth
juice from 1 lime
cilantro
queso fresco
jalapenos, sliced

Heat oil over medium-high heat until simmering. Add in onions, carrot, bell pepper, jalapeno and salt. Cook until vegetables are soft and lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and add garlic, cayenne pepper and cumin. Stir constantly until vegetables become fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in bay leaves, ham hock slices, beans, chicken broth and diced tomatoes. Increase heat to medium-high and bring soup to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 30 minutes, squeeze in juice of 1 lime and puree soup to desired thickness. I used a hand blender to puree the soup but you could easily use a blender. Serve with cilantro, jalapeno slices, and queso fresco.

Note: You can usually find ham hock slices in the meat section of the grocery store, not refrigerated. I use ham hock in soups to add a bit of a smoky, salty flavor. If you can't find a ham hock, you could substitute smoked bacon, smoked sausage, smoked ham or just leave it out completely and add a little extra salt.

Recipe adapted from Cooks Illustrated