Tag Archives: KitchenAid

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Jareth’s deep-dish streusel peach pie

In celebration of Labyrinth Day yesterday I made this last night:

Why do I celebrate Labyrinth Day? In the hopes that one bite will transport me to a place guy like this:

. 

Goblin King! Be still my heart.

This recipe comes from KitchenAid 3 cookbooks in 1 which is available on Amazon.com  I bought the book for this recipe in particular actually, have been waiting for months for June 13 to roll round so I could try this out.

Time required: 2 hours

Yields: 9 pieces

Cost per slice: $4

Total cost if you have none of the ingredients: $36

Kitchen implements I used:

  • pastry blender
  • baking pan: 8″ x 8″
  • wax paper
  • rolling pin
  • mesh strainer

Ingredients:

  • 2 large cans of peaches, drained (save ¾ C of syrup)
  • ⅓ C granulated white sugar + 1 TBSP saved for later
  • 1 TBSP powdered corn starch
  • ½ TSP vanilla
  • ½ C packed brown sugar
  • 2 C flour, divided into 1½C and ½C
  • ⅓ C quick oats
  • ¼ C butter (half a stick)
  • ½ TSP ground cinammon
  • ½ TSP salt
  • ½ C white shortening
  • 4 TBSP cold water

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 176°C / 350°F. Drain peaches and save the syrup.

2. In a sauce pan on low, heat white sugar (all except the 1 TBSP) and corn starch.

When it melts, stir in ¾ C of the peach syrup, adding it gradually.

Keep mixture on low for 10 min, it should thicken. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Set aside.

3. Combine in a bowl: brown sugar, ½ C flour, oats, and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter and you’ll have a crumbly topping. Set aside.

4. Combine in a bowl: remaining 1½ C flour, 1 TBSP sugar, and salt. Cut in shortening.

5. Add water one tablespoon at a time and mix with fork.

6. Roll out crust until it measures 10″ square. I rolled it out between two layers of wax paper.

7. Trim away excess and press crust into pan. Peel off wax paper.

Tah-dah!

8. Drop peaches onto crust, add warm syrup, add topping.

9. Bake 45 min. Cool on wire rack.

The book says to serve warm. I tried one piece last night warm, and one piece this morning. I liked it better the next day.

Verdict: I liked this. I imagine with fresh peaches it would be extra good, but after what happened on Labyrinth Day 2011 I couldn’t be bothered. My big plan was to post this last night at the 13th hour (1am), but I got sleepy. I intended to send Boyfriend into work with some but I was enjoying a pleasant dream about Jareth and I didn’t get up in time. Goblin King, you can peach me away anytime.

Playlist: Labyrinth soundtrack

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Banana bread in disguise

If it’s shaped like banana bread, and it smells like banana bread, but looks nothing like banana bread, is it banana bread? That is the question.

Banana bread is one of those. You know what I mean. Everybody and their granny can make it with their eyes closed, yet when I try, things just don’t happen the way they should. My first loaf was half-raw, my second was a brick. Third time was not a charm, I brought a bag of bananas to Hobby Victim’s house, and I don’t remember what happened but we didn’t end up making banana bread. The bag of ripe bananas lay forgotten on the counter, until her daughter discovered a putrid mystery mess. (I am still embarrassed.)

My failure to make a perfect tea bread came up with Best Friend the other week.

“I’m making banana bread soon, hopefully. My banana loaf never work out.”

“Any loaf you make never works out.”

“Touché!”

Okay, I thought. Obviously my attempts to re-create family recipes isn’t working, so what do the pros do? I found this recipe in KitchenAid 3 cookbooks in 1: pies & tarts, cakes & cupcakes; breads which is available on Amazon.com and while it seemed pretty straight forward, I’m still not sure I have real banana bread.

Time required: 2 hours

Yields: 8-10

Total cost if you have none of the ingredients: $30.00

Cost per slice: $3.00

Kitchen implements I used:

  • Nemo the KitchenAid
  • flour sifter
  • metal loaf pan
  • tinfoil

You may be wondering why there are no bananas in this picture. Well. They uh… seemed over-ripe, almost to the point of “Should these be tossed out or are they still okay?” and I decided they looked too scary for the shot.

Ingredients:

  • 6 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
  • ⅓ C brown sugar, packed
  • ⅓ C granulated white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 3-4 bananas, ripe
  • ½ TSP vanilla
  • 1½ C flour
  • 2½ TSP baking powder
  • ¼ TSP salt

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 176°C / 350°F. Line pan with tinfoil and grease.

2. Cream butter and sugars in mixer until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs one at a time, then add bananas and vanilla. You’re supposed to mash the bananas first, but uh… mine had reached the point of cellular degeneration where mashing was no longer required.

4. In a bowl sift flour, baking powder, and salt.

5. Add gradually to wet mix and mix until just combined.

6. Spoon batter in pan and bake 50 min.

7. Remove from pan and set on wire rack, cool in pan for 1 hour. Toothpick test indicated doneness.

8. Remove foil and slice.

Hmm. Is this normal?

Verdict:

“Do you think it’s done?”

“I don’t know. Let’s eat some.”

“Why is it so light? It’s supposed to be dark brown… ”

“It tastes good, that’s all I care about.”

Playlist: The Servant – Cells

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Graham cracker lemon squares

I recently purchased more lemons so I’d have an excuse to make another lemon… something, anything. The lemon tart I made the other week vanished mysteriously from the fridge, and we were a house sans lemon. And that’s no state to be. I wondered if lemons and graham crackers would be good together, so I got working on a little idea.

Time required: 1 hour

Yields: maybe 30

Total cost if you have none of the ingredients: $19

Cost per slice: $1.57

Kitchen implements I used:

  • Nemo the KitchenAid
  • sauce pan
  • juicer
  • zester
  • mesh plate
  • shallow baking pan

Crust:

  • ⅓ C butter, unsalted
  • 1½ C graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 TBSP granulated white sugar

Filling:

  • 1 C lemon juice (2-3 large lemons)
  • grated zest of one lemon, wash and dry it first
  • 1 C granulated white sugar
  • 6 TBSP unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 egg yolks

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 176°C / 350°F. Line baking pan with foil.

2. Melt butter in the microwave. Stir in sugar and graham crumbs.

3. Pat into prepared pan and bake 10 min. Cool on wire rack.

4. Get started on the lemon curd. Combine the juice, zest, sugar, and butter in a sauce pan and heat on Low until the butter is melted. Remove from heat.

5. Beat the eggs and yolks, and temper in the hot butter mix.

6. Return to stove and heat on Low until curd thickens (stir often), and when it starts to bubble, remove from heat.

7. Strain and pour directly onto crust. Ah, beautiful!

8. Bake 5 min. Cool on rack, then cover and chill for at least an hour before slicing.

Swear like a sailor when the saran wrap ruins the surface.

Verdict: Very tart. Very good. Wishing I had let the lemon settle before baking, as it’s rather high on one end, and bare on the other, but aside from the cosmetic issues this is pretty good. One day I will find the bottom of my fluted tart pan, which is still M.I.A., and then maybe I’ll make, oh I don’t know, an actual tart.

Playlist: Depeche Mode

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The Devil’s rejects

Sometimes substituting ingredients can lead to rapturous results. Other times, not so much. Like tonight, when I decided to make devil’s chocolate cupcakes, without buttermilk. But looks can be deceiving, will these devil’s wannabes live up to my expectations?

I haven’t baked in … yikes! I hemmed and hawed this afternoon over what I could make, and cupcakes kept coming up. I rummaged through the fridge and found 2% milk and heavy cream. No buttermilk. Think think think. Cupcakes with…heavy cream? This could be a prelude to a heart attack.

I’m game.

I dusted off Nemo and got to work, creaming the butter and sugar together.

Mixed the dry ingredients together.

Added dry and cream to mixing bowl in alternating pours.

Stared at batter in bemused silence. It seems… foamy?

Houston, we don’t have doming. This can’t be good.

Flat tops with two leavening agents? Ugh. Decided to mix up frosting and hope for the best. (Best thing about having two bowls for your mixer is not having to clean the bowl in between stuff. Go Nemo go!)

Sampled frosting and…. woah. That is some sweet, sweet icing. Also much too light in colour. Not quite what I had in mind.

Verdict:

No wonder the devil rejected them, back to the drawing board on this one. It turns out that the only acceptable substitute for buttermilk is milk and vinegar, but even then it’s not nearly as good.

Well, I tried. It didn’t really work out but they were still palatable, just not my best. They were slightly overdone, oddly dense, and with overly sweet frosting. Boyfriend enjoyed them despite those flaws, bless him!

The search for the perfect chocolate buttercream continues. Stay tuned!

Playlist: various Final Fantasy tracks

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Patty’s raspberry cheesecake bites

What’s tart and rich, and filled with raspberry goodness? The other day my sister told me about raspberry cheesecake, and I could think of nothing else until I had some too. “It’s delicious,” she assured me, and I was eager to see for myself.

Good to know before you start:

I intended to add cream to this but forgot about it, and in the end I’m glad I didn’t, it would have been too much liquid combined with the juice from the berries. Recommend you don’t use frozen berries for the same reason.

I was also going to crush the graham crackers but after I took this picture discovered I had just enough graham cracker crumbs in the pantry to use instead. Huzzah!

Time required: 2 days (overnight chilling)

Yields: 64 pieces

Cost per slice: $0.50

Total cost if you have none of the ingredients: $32.00

Kitchen implements I used:

  • Nemo the KitchenAid
  • baking pans: 9″ x 13″ nestled inside 14.5″ by 10.5″
  • heavy tin foil & plastic wrap

Crust ingredients:

  • 5 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
  • 1¾ C honey graham cracker crumbs

Filling ingredients:

  • 1¼ C granulated white sugar
  • 2 TBSP cornstarch
  • 4 blocks of cream cheese, softened (32 oz or 1,000 g)
  • 5 large eggs, room temp
  • 3 containers of raspberries

Topping ingredients:

  • 1½ C sour cream
  • 3 TBSP granulated white sugar

1. Using centre rack, preheat oven to 176°C / 350°F.  Fill kettle and boil. After water boils, leave on Low for use later.

2. Line 9″ x 13″ baking pan with foil, and grease.

3. Melt butter in sauce pan on Low. Remove from heat and stir in graham cracker crumbs.

4. Pat crumbs into prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes and cool on wire rack.

5. Rise and dry berries. Sample! Set aside.

6. In a small bowl whisk sugar and cornstarch together, set aside.

7. In mixer, on Medium speed, beat cream cheese for 5 minutes.  Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl every 60 seconds.

8. Gradually beat in sugar mixture, then add eggs one at a time. Mix until thoroughly blended, but don’t overbeat and remember to scrape down the sides.

9. Add about half of the berries and beat on High until you see swirls of red. Dodge that stuff like The Matrix as you remember why putting a KitchenAid on the highest speed can be a bad idea.

10. Pour half of the filling onto the crust. Sprinkle with remaining berries, then remaining filling.

Get annoyed when your berries, which may or may not have been meticulously spaced, are displaced by the weigh of the rest of the filling as it is poured. Frown repeatedly.

11. Create the hot water bath. Bake 50 minutes until just centre jiggles, then remove from oven and place on rack (turn off oven). Flip out when you remember you forgot to add the heavy cream, and obsessively wonder what will happen when it’s time to slice it.

12. While the cake was baking I made up the topping, see small bowl to the right? It’s just sour cream and white sugar mixed together. Chill it until the cake is removed from the oven, then spoon mixture onto hot cake, use soft spatula to spread it evenly, and return cake to oven for 5 minutes (oven is off).

14. Remove from oven and carefully remove the smaller pan (which holds the cake) from the large pan. Cool cheesecake for at least 2 hours.

15. Cover in plastic wrap and chill overnight. Is this your first time making a cheesecake? Read my notes on how to slice a cheesecake correctly.

Verdict: Be still my stomach. This is delicious, but cheesecake for breakfast has to stop. I am dying. I plan to donate some of this to my partying neighbours across the hall.

Ah, raspberry cheesecake is sumptuous. Thanks Chocoholic!

Playlist: Tchaikovsky – Sleeping Beauty

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Blueberry poppy seed cake

Initially I planned to make a tea bread with a light lemon frosting, but Boyfriend persuaded me to skip the frosting and try blueberry cake as-is. Hmm. Will it be good?

This recipe also comes from KitchenAid 3 cookbooks in 1: pies & tarts, cakes & cupcakes; breads, which is available on Amazon.com which has turned out to a good find so far.

Time required: 1 hour

Yields: 10-12 pieces

Cost per portion: $4.25

Total cost if you have none of the ingredients: $51.00

Special kitchen implements I used:

  • Nemo the KitchenAid
  • pastry blender
  • round 9″ pan
  • tin foil

Ingredients:

  • 1½ C flour
  • ½ C granulated white sugar
  • 1 TSP baking powder
  • ½ TSP baking soda
  • ¼ TSP salt
  • ¼ C butter, cold (half a stick)
  • 1 TBSP poppy seeds
  • ¾ C buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 TSP vanilla
  • 1 TSP lemon juice
  • 1 C blueberries, washed and dried

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 176.6°C / 350°F. Line baking pan with foil, and grease.

2. In a large bowl, combine: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. Use pastry blender to cut in butter until coarse crumbs form.

4. Mix in poppy seeds.

5. In mixer, whisk eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, and lemon juice.

6. Add wet mixture to dry, until just combined.

7. Place half of the batter into prepared pan, then sprinkle berries into batter.

8. Drop remaining batter onto the berries, and attempt to spread evenly. Leave some berries uncovered.

9. Bake 33 min.  Cool in pan for 2 min after baking, then use tinfoil to lift from pan.

10. Use mad ninja skills to remove tinfoil, and cool at least 15 min before slicing.

Verdict:

“That smells really good.”

“Thanks. I’ve never made it before.”

“I don’t think I’m going to share any of this at work.”

“Why not?”

“It’s MINE.”

“Well technically babe, it’s mine. But you can have some.”

Now I have almost a litre of buttermilk in the fridge and no idea what else to do with it, so I predict cupcakes are in the near future.

Playlist: Florence + The Machine

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Plum-side down cakes

Nothing is sweeter than a ripe plum. Alas, winter plums are not very juicy, but I have just discovered a recipe which uses under-ripe plums, and it is quite delectable.

Dad always buys plums, and when I visit we go for a drive, eat plums, and talk. Eating a plum while you are driving is harder than you might think, and the passenger is in charge of  the Napkin Brigade, in order for both occupants of the car to enjoy a peaceful, plum-filled scenic trip

This recipe comes from KitchenAid 3 cookbooks in 1: pies & tarts, cakes & cupcakes; breads, which is available on Amazon.com if you’re inclined to check it out.

Time required: 1 hour

Yields: 8 cakes

Cost per portion: $4.37

Total cost if you have none of the ingredients: $35.00

Special kitchen implements I used:

  • Nemo the KitchenAid
  • muffin tin
  • baking pan

Ingredients:

  • 2 TBSP butter
  • 3 TBSP brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 2-3 plums, underripe
  • ½ C granulated white sugar
  • 2 TBSP white shortening
  • 1 egg
  • 1 C flour
  • 1 TSP baking powder
  • ¼ TSP salt
  • ⅓ C milk

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 176.6°C / 350°F.  Set muffin tin on top of a large baking tray (to catch runoff) and grease 8 of the cups.

2. Wash the plums, and slice into narrow pieces.  The recipe said to use 3, but I only had room for one and a half.

3. Melt butter in the microwave and stir in brown sugar.

Spoon into muffin cups, and layer plum slices on top of butter. I placed 2 slices in each cup.

4. Beat white sugar and shortening in mixer until fluffy.

5. Combine in a bowl: flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into shortening mixture.

6. Add milk and beat on medium until smooth.

7. Spoon into muffin cups, and shake to settle. (The book said to fill the cups about two thirds of the way, but my muffin pan is shallow so I just tried to divide the batter evenly and this is what I got. Hope this works out!)

8. Bake for 20 min, until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly.

See how the brown sugar mixture bubbled up? That’s why we put a tray under the pan.

9. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 min, then run knife around edges to loosen the cakes. Invert onto the rack and…

…is this normal??  Use tongs to pick up the fruit pieces and drop them on top of the cakes.

10. Cool another 5 minutes before eating:

Verdict: Plum cake is delicious. Now I see why it says to use 3 plums,you are not trying to evenly line the bottom, just put several slices in each cup. I know for next time.  I think you have enough batter to make more than 8, they would just be thinner. These were great.

Playlist: Florence + the Machine

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Christmas chocolate boxes

This year Boyfriend and I made boxes of chocolate as Christmas presents, to go along with the tins of peppermint bark. This idea had been percolating for a few months. After the first batch of chocolates turned out so well, I asked Boyfriend if he wanted join me in making chocolates together. He thought this was a good plan, so we spent a few evenings drinking cocoa and playing video games as we worked out the details.

There were three problems with this plan:

  1. How do you make fillings for chocolates that won’t spoil? Mousse was out.
  2. How do you make coloured fillings when somebody has an anaphylaxis reaction to food colouring?
  3. Would the chocolates survive being transported from Toronto to the east coast on the VIA train?

First, we did some stealth research on family preferences, and started brainstorming what flavours to make, and how to make them. Neither of us had made chocolate fillings before, but how hard could it be? We decided that Boyfriend would make the fillings and I would temper the chocolate, and by the magic of team work, they would come together into one glorious confection. Oh, hubris.

Second, we ordered supplies: silicon moulds, flavouring oils, boxes, ribbon, and photo-quality paper. After coming up with a rough estimate of how much chocolate was required, I hit up the farmer’s market and purchased seven kilograms of Belgian chocolate; milk, dark, semi-sweet, and white.

Third, after the boxes arrived, they had to be assembled. This was a lot harder than it sounds. Boyfriend saved the day since I had no idea what to do. Once the boxes were ready, I designed a label and he affixed it to the box.

Fourth, we made a map! We had 6 different mould shapes, but each box was meant to hold 9 chocolates, so there would be some repeats. The map went under multiple revisions before I settled on this:

Fifth, practice run! Filling chocolates was brand-new territory, I wanted to experiment to get the technique down. I tempered a batch of chocolate and we got to work.

To make the fillings, Boyfriend mixed up icing sugar, butter, and evaporated milk in Nemo the KitchenAid, and then divided into 4 bowls, which he flavoured accordingly with: orange cream, peppermint, and raspberry. To get the buttercream, he kept one bowl aside without any extra flavouring ingredients.

The peanut butter filling was chilled, rolled into balls, then placed in the freezer.

Boyfriend making peanut butter balls

For the other filled ones, I made a simple ganache, by pouring scalded cream over milk chocolate, and over Toblerone pieces.

Once the chocolate was tempered, I poured a little chocolate into the bottom of the moulds, he put the filling in, and I topped it up with more chocolate. We shook the moulds to settle the chocolate, and back into the fridge.

After the test chocolates set, we put half in the fridge, and left the rest on the counter, to see how they held up at room temperature. After a week the chilled ones were fine, the others has degraded a bit, so that was good to know.

What about dying the fillings? Peppermint patties are white anyway, but how can you make pink, orange, and yellow, without using food colouring? We added a dash of pure beet juice to the raspberry which worked like a charm, soft pink was achieved. (Experiments with other vegetable juices to colour the orange and butter cream failed.)

Six, it was time to make the first batch of real chocolates. Armed with what we learned from the test trial, we made a batch of chocolates for Boyfriend’s family. Everything turned out wonderfully, aside from the Toblerone ganache which collapsed.  However, it was the tastiest one.

After spending the weekend with his family, we came home and went to work on round 2 for my family – which would be shipped on the VIA train. Back to the drawing board on the Toblerones, and decided to skip the ganache this time, and just melt and mould solid Tolberone, which held up much better.

The brown triangle in the top left corner is the label, which I have blurred out, but it says the name of our chocolate company, so to speak.

Verdict:

Collaborating with Boyfriend was a lot of fun. Aside from the tears and the tantrum at the train station (which is a long boring story), I had a great time! His family really enjoyed the chocolates, and hopefully my family likes them too. ^^

The lovely ribbon I was so excited about? Completely forgot to use it until today. The map was a little bit off. We had planned to use the tiered square for 3 flavours, but ended up with 4 in that shape, and the milk chocolate ganache and the dulce de leche were reversed. Oops.

I think my idea for Toblerone ganache is still a sound premise, but I’m going to have to keep tinkering. Placing the ganache fillings into the chocolate was really tricky, the fillings oozed out a bit, I’m not sure if adding more liquid to the ganache would help or not.

For next year, I’ll make sure I have at least 2 copies of each mould so we can make 30 per flavour at a time. I’ll also start a few days earlier, got a bit distracted and left some things to the last minute.

Where to get supplies:

Both online orders arrived promptly, and had been packed with care. I’ll order from both companies again.

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Eggnog

For reasons I cannot fathom, Boyfriend loves eggnog. I do not, and when someone offers me a glass of eggnog, I have terrible flashbacks to a night involving a childhood illness and my father’s questionable decision that eggnog was what the doctor ordered. Ugh. To this day the thought of drinking eggnog makes me queasy.

A few days ago Boyfriend bought some eggnog, but he drank it all and has been moping around.

“Sigh.”

“Why are you sighing?”

“We’re out of eggnog.”

“You mean you’re out of eggnog.”

In a burst of Christmas generosity I was moved to make homemade eggnog for him. I googled around until I found something that looked promising. I made a few changes to the recipe.

Time required: 1 hour

Yields: 3-4 large glasses

Cost per glass: $4.00

Total cost if you have none of the ingredients: $25.00

Special kitchen implements I used:

  • Nemo the KitchenAid

Ingredients:

  • 2 C milk
  • 1 C heavy cream
  • 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
  • 1 TSP nutmeg
  • 4 egg yolks, 4 egg whites
  • ⅓ C sugar + 1 TBSP

Instructions:

1. Separate yolks and whites. Place yolks in mixing bowl, set whites aside for later.

 

2. Beat yolks until colour lightens.

3. Gradually add ⅓ C of sugar to the yolks, beat until thoroughly dissolved.

4. In a sauce pan, add milk, cream, nutmeg, and vanilla bean. Scald mixture, then remove from heat.

5. Strain and temper hot cream into yolks, adding about one third at a time.

Once the cream and yolks have been mixed, return to sauce pot and heat to 160°F / 71.1°C. (I switched to a fresh pot for this.)

Don’t forget to stir. I forgot to stir, and I got a scrambled eggs on the bottom. Oops.

6. Remove from heat, transfer to mixing bowl, and chill.

7. Meanwhile, in another mixing bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. (I used the 3rd setting for 2-3 min.)

8. Add 1 TBSP of sugar to whites, beating until stiff peaks form. (Took 2-3 min on 4th setting.)

9. Whisk whites into chilled mixture.

Whisking got boring so I used the wire-whip attachment in the mixer to do this for me.

10. Chill and… drink I guess.

Verdict:

Boyfriend assures me it was delicious. I’ll have to trust his judgement, I have no intentions of drinking that swill. After he drained the glass I confessed that I didn’t stir it enough and found eggy mixture in the bottom.

“Oh. I thought I felt something kinda solid in there.”

“But it was okay, yeah?”

“Yeah. It was really good, despite the eggs. Best homemade nog I’ve ever had!”

“I’ll take your word on that.”

Playlist: The Vision of Escaflowne OST

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Skor blondies

Faithful follower: this is for you! I have emerged from my penuche-induced coma to make a batch of blondies. Actually this is the first thing I’ve baked since Thanksgiving, and it feels quite good!

I found this recipe on the back of a package of Chipits.

A blondie is similar to a brownie, however the major ingredient difference is using brown sugar instead of cocoa. These are made with Skor bits, and apparently skor is the Swedish word for shoes. Why a chocolate bar was named after shoes is a mystery right up there with getting the caramel inside the Caramilk. These are the matters I just do not understand.

Time required: 2 hr (30 min prep, 23 min bake, 1 hr cool)

Yields: 36 pieces

Total cost if you have none of the ingredients: $31.00

Cost per piece: $0.86 (hurrah for the most fiscally responsible thing I’ve ever baked!!)

Special kitchen implements I used:

  • baking pan: 9″ x 13″
  • tinfoil

Ingredients:

  • ½ C butter, softened
  • 1 C brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 C flour
  • 1 TSP baking powder
  • ½ TSP baking soda
  • ¼ TSP salt
  • 200g package of Skor Chipits (butter toffee pieces)
  • ¼ C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 177°C / 350°F. Line baking pan with tinfoil and grease.

2. In a mixer beat butter, brown sugar, and eggs until combined.

So yeah, this is the first time I’ve given poor Nemo a whirl in over a month. That’s right, I am on first name terms with my KitchenAid. All things of beauty need a name!!

Back to our wet mixture: beat until smooth and combined.

3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. Add dry mixture to wet, one third at a time. Don’t overbeat or the mixture will become too hard.

5. Add 1 cup of Skor pieces, and the chocolate chips (the recipe suggested 1C of chocolate chips but I only had enough for ¼C).

6. Smoosh batter into prepared pan.

7. Bake for 23 min, top should be golden brown.

8. Remove from oven and immediately pour the remaining Skor pieces on top.

9. Cool on wire rack for at least 1 hour. Peel off tinfoil and serve.

Verdict:

“What is that delicious smell?” asked Boyfriend when he came home.

We ate some, and they were pretty good. I have a weakness for butter toffee, buying Skor Chipits may have been a grave mistake. I expect there are all sorts of recipes which would benefit from adding Skor bits. Stayed tuned and find out.

Playlist: Matthew Good Band – Giant