Sometimes I’ve wondered how I would function if I had to share living space with someone allergic to peanuts.  My peanut butter addiction just might force me to move out. I can’t imagine not being able to have a PB&J for lunch or, say, these Peanut Butter Crisscrosses for a treat.

Peanut butter cookies are one of those childhood things that I’ve never tired of (one of many, I will admit!).  These ones are soft and chewy, as a good peanut butter cookie should be, and the sugar sprinkled on top gives them just the right amount of crunch.  The recipe was pretty clear about not using natural PB here, but that was what I had, so that was what I used.  To make it a little more like the kiddie brands, I put in a squeeze of golden syrup.  I also swapped a little AP with a little whole wheat flour.  I don’t think anyone would be able to call me out on either of these changes.

For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Jasmine Cuisine, as it was Jasmine’s choice for TWD this week.  Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!

Speaking of peanuts…has anyone noticed the peanut flour Trader Joe’s is now selling in with the baking stuff?  Has anyone baked with it?  I am curious…

…my husband and I had the most wonderful dinner, part of a series of coast-to-coast outdoor events put on by Outstanding in the Field.  They stretch their long, white-clothed tables through some of the most dramatic landscapes around North America.  This one being in the middle of New York City, they set up camp in a community garden on the Lower Eastside.  Even though it lacks the wide-open spaces of some of their other dinners, they still managed to make it look so magical that I forgot it was 90-somethingº outside!

Or maybe it was really all the Long Island wine that made me forget the heat!

The locally-sourced food was cooked by Chef Bill Telepan, and we shared it family-style.  I’m sorry I didn’t get any pictures of the food, but I was too busy, eating drinking and making new friends!

Let me tell you right off the bat: these Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies that Donna of Life’s Too Short Not to Eat Dessert First picked for TWD…I love them!  Maybe this has something to do with the fact that the first time I had one, it was made by Dorie herself.  My friend Lauren and I braved a load of snow to visit Dorie’s pop-up CookieBar back in February, and I bought heaps of cookies.  All were delicious, but the Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread was my clear favorite. 

I’ve made them a handful of times since, and they’ve come out every bit as good as the ones Dorie made.  Of course they taste like coffee and chocolate, which is reason enough to like them, and they have that crisp-yet-melt-in-your-mouth texture of great shortbread.  I refuse to think about the winter holidays when it’s 90º outside, but if I were to think about packing up holiday cookies, these would be a great addition to the standards.

Don’t skip out on these cookies– for the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Life’s Too Short Not to Eat Dessert First.  And check out the TWD Blogroll!

Over the last couple weeks, I’ve suddenly become a very busy girl, with reasons that have nothing to do with working (heck–I am not even working right now…still on a self-proclaimed “summer break”) or blogging.  I’m learning a lot of weird stuff that, up until now, I had no reason to know or care about.  I think you’d find it a little boring if I went into details about it now, as it’s all more of an idea than a reality at this point, but I’ll fill you in soon. 

No matter what’s going on, I’m never to busy to bake, and even if Rachel of sweet tarte hadn’t decided on Crunchy and Custardy Peach Tart, I was still planning on making it this month.  I think the peaches here have been great this year, and I’ve picked up a tree’s worth of them at the market.  This tart combines those peaches (which I didn’t even bother to peel) with custard and almond streusel and puts them all inside a delicious, cookie-like sweet tart (hey– is that why Rachel picked this?) shell.  Yeah, I liked this one a lot, even if it didn’t photograph too well.

For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read sweet tarte.  Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!

Who is Johnny C?  Yeah, I don’t know.  What’s a tres leches cake?  That I do know!  “Tres leches” actually refers to a soaking sauce usually made of condensed, evaporated and regular milks (sometimes coconut milk or cream gets in there, too) that soaks its way into every pore of a spongy cake.  As a self-proclaimed connoisseur of fine cakes from around the globe, pastel de tres leches is truly one of my favorites.

This recipe, though…well, it wasn’t a bad one, but an old coworker, who’s from Columbia, gave me the recipe his sister makes for every family gathering, and I think it’s much better.  While this cake is made using the creaming method, hers is more of a separated egg sponge, and it really takes in the soaking liquid in a different way.  When you put a fork into hers, you see how spongy and it is, and the milk just barely starts to weep out…it turns almost puddingy if you keep it overnight.  Johnny C’s absorbed the milk and just trapped it there…it was a little too heavy for my tastes, but I’ll admit it was much improved with a little rum whipped cream (then again, what isn’t?). 

I’ll stick to my preferred version of pastel de tres leches (I’ll post it sometime, I promise!), but if you want to give Johnny C’s a go, here’s a printable link to the recipe, or get your hands on a copy of Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott.  Cruise through the list of The Cake Slice Bakers to check out all of our tres leches cakes this month!

Thank you, Natalie of Oven Love, for choosing Oatmeal Breakfast Bread for TWD!  I have dropped a couple of hints in the past that this is one recipe I’ve been itching to make…not only that, but I’m always happy when someone chooses a brekkie thing, as I kinda feel we ignore this section of the book.

I’m pleased to report that this oatmeal bread was everything I hoped it would be!  It’s really soft and nicely spiced, and completely perfect with coffee…you can cut into slices like a bread or bigger chunks like a coffee cake.  I used dried apples and pecans in mine, and baked it the night before (who wants to get up at 5am to do it, especially when it keeps so well?).  I baked a half recipe, and it took a little less time to cook than Dorie indicated for a full batch.  I can’t wait to make it again in cooler weather…a whole recipe next time, for sure!

For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Oven Love.  Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!

It’s not often that I crank out straight-up chocolate ice cream, so it took Katrina’s pick of Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream to make me remember how insanely good it really is.  After letting it temper a bit, you need nothing but a cone or a spoon to enjoy it in its purest form.  But you can also turn it into wicked treats, like sundaes topped with marshie fluff and salty peanuts, or boozy bourbon milkshakes.

For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Baking and Boys.  Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!

Natalia of gatti fili e farina chose Gingered Carrot Cookies for TWD– an overlooked recipe whose time I’m glad has come.  These cookies are full of tasty bits and are just sweet enough.  At first glance, the recipe looks like it might make carrot cake in cookie form.  Shredded carrots and coconut, raisins, ginger and pecans…I was certainly surprised to see mine bake up as little hearty, lumpy-bumpy mounds instead.  Dorie says these are scone-like, and she’s right (of course she is– it’s her recipe afterall).  If I’d thought to scoop out a couple of triple-size ones, I bet they would have made a great breakfast!

For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read gatti fili e farina.  Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!

After my first foray into the world of semifreddo, seems I can’t get enough.  I love that I can whip up a creamy frozen treat without having to wait for my ice cream machine’s canister to freeze. 

I would never have made this particular recipe if I actually had to bake a batch of brownies to do it, but just so happens I had some in the freezer.  (I wouldn’t admit to most people I know that I have a stash of assorted brownies in the freezer, but I bet all of you do, too, so it almost seems normal.)  Boy, is this ever rich…like frozen chocolate mousse.  A little goes a long way, though, so you don’t have to feel too guilty if you just have a couple small scoops.

Double Chocolate Brownie Semifreddo- makes 8-10 servings
from a recipe in Donna Hay Magazine (Issue 43)

Steph’s Note:  Half a recipe freezes nicely in a metal loaf pan.

3 eggs
2 yolks, extra
1 t vanilla extract
1 c (220 g) caster sugar
2 c (500 ml) whipping cream
250 g dark chocolate, melted
350 g chocolate brownies, chopped

-Pre-chill a 2-quart (or 2-litre) capacity metal tin in the freezer.

-Place eggs, extra yolks, vanilla and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and, either by hand or using a hand-held electric mixer, beat for 6-8 mins or until thick and pale.  Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.  Fold through the melted chocolate.

-Whisk the cream until medium-stiff peaks form.  Gently fold the cream through the egg mixture until well combined.  (Make sure that the egg mixture is approximately room temperature at this stage or it will melt the cream, also if the egg mixture is quite stiff after you’ve added the chocolate, you may need to “loosen” it first with about 1/4 of the whipped cream.)  Fold through the brownies.

-Pour into a 2-litre capacity metal tin.  Freeze for 6 hours or overnight before serving.

I never make blondies (except for this batch, obviously).  I don’t know why…they are like chocolate chip cookies on steroids, and who wouldn’t like that?  Nicole of Cookies on Friday picked Chewy, Chunky Blondies for TWD, and they are certainly juiced up with chocolate chips, toffee (or butterscotch) chips, walnuts and coconut.

I love butterscotch, but I hate those fake-tasting chips…I still have toffee bits left in the freezer from the Caramel Crunch Bars (yeah, apparently they last forever), and I was happy to use those instead.  With all that’s going on in these blondies, I wanted to tame the sweetness a little, so I cut back just a bit on the sugar and used unsweetend coconut flakes.

To get the sensation, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or read Cookies on Friday.  Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!