Double Chocolate Cookie and Mint Ice Cream Sandwiches

In the irony that is our universe, I happen to have committed to a lifelong partnership with the one person in the entire world who does not consider his birthday to be the most exciting day of the year. As someone whose childhood family nickname was “birthday-on-the-brain,” I just can’t quite wrap my head around this. 

The way I see it, birthdays are the only day of the entire year where you have a built-in excuse to spend time with your favorite people in the world while they compliment you and celebrate your existence, all without you doing a single thing! If that isn’t a definition of “perfect storm,” I’m not sure what is. 

Clearly, I have a task ahead of me…convincing MM of the glory that is a birthday. This year, we started small. A weekend away to play tourist in a city we grew up with and love dearly—Baltimore, MD. 

While many of the weekends’ plans were stymied by the nagging rain that conveniently refused to let up until our departure on Sunday, it was still a great weekend. If you ever have a chance to eat at the Black Olive in Fells Point, I highly recommend it. You feel like you’re in your Greek grandmother’s house as they grill an entire fish and filet it in front of you right at your tableside! 

Other weekend celebrants include Guida for her birthday, Kristin for her (upcoming) birthday, and Lindsey for her bridal shower…that’s a lot of celebrating! 

Since we were away for the weekend, I had to reserve birthday baking for Sunday. Just as I was feeling without inspiration, Lakshmi put this gem up on facebook, and I was sold. Since we are only two people, I halved the original recipe. My version still made six very hearty sandwiches! 

Double Chocolate Cookie and Mint Ice Cream Sandwiches 
Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients:
1 1/8 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coffee grinds
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Mint chocolate chip ice cream, slightly softened

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Sift first 4 ingredients into bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in both sugars, then eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in extracts, then flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, spacing mounds 2 to 3 inches apart. Using moist fingertips, flatten mounds to 3/4-inch thickness.

2. Bake cookies 5 minutes. Reverse sheets. Bake until cookies are puffed and dry-looking but soft to touch, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Freeze on sheets 15 minutes.

3. Spoon 1/3 cup gelato onto flat side of 1 cookie. Top with second cookie, flat side down; press together. Wrap and freeze. Repeat with remaining gelato and cookies. DO AHEAD: Keep frozen up to 2 days.

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

Having grown up in its neighboring state, it’s embarrassing to admit that my main impressions of West Virginia came not from outings to its tree-filled mountains, but from off-color jokes and one “wild and wonderful” documentary. So you can imagine my reaction when I first heard that MM’s family has made an annual trip to this very state for over 60 years for a week of sun, outdoor air, and relaxation.

Huh?

Let me tell you, I was in for a pleasant surprise. Sure there are colorful personalities and people who live up to (and exceed) your expectations of the typical West Virginian, but all of the jokes in the world don’t prepare you for just how beautiful the state’s land and mountains are. How nice is it to see this view every rising and setting of the sun?

So what did we do? There was a lot of golfing (Barb and I drove the cart and drank wine—I’m pretty sure we got the better end of the deal):

Sun bathing (no photos…you’re welcome). Spa time (me and my paraffin-tipped toes were extremely content in this picture):

Playing with dogs who can drink from water bottles (this woman is incredible-she and her dogs walk 6-8 miles every day, and the dogs get treats from many of the cabins in the park. She remembers details about this family from over 10 years ago, since she's walked past their cabin every time they've been in the area over the years):

We even celebrated a 90^th birthday—birthday girl is on the right:

I'd like to point out that it was deathly hot outside in this photo. I have no idea how he was wearing  sweater!

After spending a week hitting the pool, relaxing at the spa, and soaking up the views in Oglebay Park (outside of Wheeling), I can see why the family loves this place. Your mind goes to a serene place when you’re surrounded by pretty views, happy people, and a constant supply of tasty treats (thanks, cooks!).

Katie, who at 34 weeks pregnant STILL is only showing in her stomach (you’d like to hate her, but you can’t because she’s too fun) decided to man dessert-making responsibilities. This was one of her many creations, and I almost died the first time I tried these cupcakes. Sadly, I can verify that the fifth or sixth cupcake was just as good as the first…oops, willpower can visit another week.

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from My Baking Addiction
YIELD: 24 Cupcakes

Ingredients:

CUPCAKES
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
24 Reese’s Miniatures; frozen (this prevents them from disappearing into the batter)

PEANUT BUTTER BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
6-8 tablespoons heavy cream (if using milk, amount will be less)

Directions:
CUPCAKES
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and espresso water mixture. Beat for about two minutes on medium speed until well combined.

3. Using a large cookie scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well. Press one frozen Reese’s Miniature into the center of each cupcake.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. There will be a small sink hole in the top of the cupcakes from the Reese’s Miniatures, that’s okay - you’ll cover that with frosting. Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes.

5. Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.

PEANUT BUTTER BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, cream butter and peanut butter on medium speed until fluffy. Turn your mixer down to low speed and slowly add in the confectioner’s sugar, and continue mixing until well blended.

2. Add vanilla and 4 tablespoons of heavy cream. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 4 tablespoons of heavy cream until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy

3. Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and finish with chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Sour Cream Pancakes with a Dash of Cinnamon

If you've ever been in the kitchen with me, you have probably learned three things about my cooking style:
1. I can't ever follow a recipe directly.
2. If there isn't cinnamon (or cumin) included in the original recipe, it will now be included in mine.
3. I most enjoy cooking when I don't have to do it, but want to do it.

Which brings me to this morning. July 4th, a celebration of independence and freedom. It's really for our country. But let's get real here, a day off helps us worker bees enjoy some freedom from work, too.

Waking up and knowing that you have a whole day of relaxation, sun, and friends ahead of you is pretty much second to none. With MM still asleep, I started creeping around the kitchen and quickly realized that it was a perfect morning to leisurely get some dishes dirty in the kitchen.

Pancakes were the obvious choice, but that was quickly kiboshed by the fact that our refrigerator is currently milk-free. Clearly, that was not enough to deter me. A quick mental roll of the recipe rolodex pointed me towards an easy substitution: sour cream.

Sour cream gives the pancakes a fluffy texture that you don't get with traditional pancakes. There's a very slight tang that accompanies the pancakes, but it's offset by the sweetness of the syrup. Final verdict: 2 votes for "absolutely make these again!"

 Sour Cream Pancakes with a Dash of Cinnamon
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

7 tablespoons all purpose flour
2.5 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/ 2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Butter
Maple syrup

Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium-low heat; you want it to slowly get nice and hot.

Stir the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together in the bottom of a medium bowl. Dump the sour cream in on top and stir it together very gently; it’s okay to leave the texture a bit uneven. Whisk the eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl and stir them into the sour cream mixture, once again, being careful not to overmix.

Melt about a tablespoon of butter in your skillet or griddle and pour the batter in, a scant 1/4 cup at a time. Cook for about 2 minutes on the first side, or until bubbles appear all over the surface, flipping them carefully and cooking for about a minute on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve in a stack, topped with a pat of butter and a cascade of maple syrup.

Roasted Jalapeno Gaucamole

"Monster In-Law," "Father of the Bride," "Meet the Fockers"...the list is endless when it comes to movies showing the merging of two families and the full range of possible miseries that can ensue.

Saturday night was the first official meeting of MM's parents and my own. We know each set of parents, we love each set of parents, we were pretty sure the two sets would get along well, but there's always that moment of panic that's been fueled by years of romantic comedies issuing an undercurrent of warning.

I'm happy to say, we were right! Take that, Hollywood. The meet-the-in-laws cookout went beyond smoothly. In fact, MM and I probably could have skipped the event completely and the evening wouldn't have been much different! Even a last-minute addition of my grandparents thanks to a power outage in triple-digit weather, didn't faze anyone--it actually added to the festivities! End result: a sigh of relief, a full belly, and a happy heart. Makes me very excited for what's to come!

Enough of the mushy stuff, let's get down to business. The food. With a menu consisting of beef, shrimp, and chicken kebabs accompanied with roasted asparagus, rice, and salad, our household's contribution was small in size but big in taste.

MM is famous for his guacamole, and his batch this weekend lived up to snuff. We ate most of it before I could manage to snap a picture, but you get the idea!

Roasted Jalapeno Guacamole

Ingredients:
1 jalapeno pepper
1 tsp olive oil
4 avocados
1/3 yellow onion, diced finely
1 tomato, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Juice of 1/2 lime
1-2 tsp Cholula hot sauce
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450F. Place the jalapeno pepper on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 15-20 minutes until pepper is charred. Let cool, and then mince.

In a large bowl, mash avocados until they have a consistency that is relatively creamy but includes several chunks. Add in all other ingredients and mix until ingredients are just combined. For extra heat, add a second jalapeno, diced raw. Season to taste, and serve immediately.

If needed, you can add the pit of one of the avocados in the bowl to help keep the guacamole green a bit longer. But I recommend digging in as soon as possible!

Peanut Butter Brownies

My grandpa has long touted the healing powers of peanut butter. In fact, just the other night, he entertained us with his historical love of the crunchy stuff, going so far as to call it a "pillar of life." My dad inherited this love, and truthfully, so did I.

Flash forward to this past week: Sarah and Ben were coming for dinner on Friday, and I was as excited as could be to put my baking gloves back on and get all floured up in the kitchen. I search recipes high and low until I settled on a new treat: chocolate whoopie pies with espresso icing. Thursday night, I get the kitchen all cleaned up and pull out my mixer, only to find that when I grab the sugar from the pantry, I am actually grabbing a 5lb brick. (This sounds dramatic; I assure you it's not.)

Scratch plan A. Go to sleep. Wake up on Friday with full-fledged plans to leave work early, go to the store, and start baking in plenty of time to be ready when S&B come. Reality check: no leaving work early. Resort to plan C: brownies.

Whoever invented brownies, I am forever in your debt. They satisfy nearly every tastebud in the world, and you can tailor them to your liking. I always use my tried and trusted recipe, and this time, I think I've found a way to make them even better.

Yep, that's right. Add peanut butter chips. Hellooooooo, delicious. Goooodbyeeeeee, willpower.

The night turned out to be a blast! So much fun that even an 11pm power outage didn't end the party. We made it another two hours before throwing in the towel (and power did get restored that evening--which is more than many of our neighbors can say!). Fun night, friends!