Chocolate Chess Pie Pops

Last night, I was working on an order for some pie pop samples, and I happened upon this wonderful discovery: chocolate chess pie makes a bombass pie pop. It can be majorly sweet, so it balances out the crust heaviness of the pop.

How do you do it? All you have to do is quarter a recipe for chocolate chess pie and use it in the recipe I posted a few months back. How does one quarter a recipe for chocolate chess pie? See below. Thank me later.

Recipe for a Teeny Tiny Batch of Chocolate Chess Pie (yields about two dozen pie pops)

Ingredients

1/4 cup unsalted butter (4 tbsp)

1/2 oz. of semisweet chocolate (that is half of one of those Baker's chocolate squares, which is what I prefer to use), chopped into chunks for easier melting

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg (you'll use half for the batter and the other half for an egg wash over the pops)

1/4 tsp vanilla

pinch of sea salt

Directions

1. Melt the butter over low heat in a saucepan. Once the butter is melted, immediately turn off the burner and drop in the chocolate. Don't stir. Just swirl the chocolate around until it melts into the butter. 

2. While the chocolate is melting, place the sugar in a small bowl and whisk in HALF of an egg. Just approximate. You don't have to be too crazy about it. Whisk together until blended. Whisk in the vanilla and sea salt. 

3. When the chocolate has melted, whisk it into the sugar mixture. 

4. Place this in the fridge and let it harden a bit (1+ hours). It will be much easier to work with. 

5. Preheat the oven to 325F and bake for about 20 minutes, but otherwise follow all the instructions for making pie pops. I like to use an egg wash and then generously sprinkle granulated sugar on top. 

Note: It's best to bake these near the bottom of the oven so the filling doesn't bubble out. If it does, it isn't the end of the world. You can clean them up after. 

Totally Optional: dip half the pie pop in caramel sauce and top with a few flakes of sea salt. Again, optional, but it will make you a badass.

Nutella Sea Salt Sugar Cookies

After a long hiatus from the kitchen while in Thailand, I am back in business with these babies: sugar cookies made with White Lily flour, packed with melted Nutella and sea salt flakes. Yes.

Happy National Pie Day: I Ate All the Pie!

In commemoration of this monumental national holiday, I baked myself an individual pie in a ramekin and then I ate all of it. Because I can. Hey, the holiday doesn't give me the day off of work, so I earned my own mini-vacation in pie form.

What kind of a pie do I eat if left to my own devices? Chocolate chess pie, of course. It's intoxicating when it's fresh out of the oven. Then I warm up some caramel sauce, drizzle it on top, and sprinkle with flakes of sea salt. My second choice would be banana cream pie, but I prefer to leave my banana cream pies overnight in the fridge before I eat them. And we all know I wasn't going to let this pie sit overnight. It had to be consumed immediately. See the evidence below.

Before stuffing it in my face.

Middle of stuffing it in my face.

The last bite. I eated all of it. And I regret none of it.

National Pie Day has me thinking about some new goals for my pie project in the coming months:

• Get my online store up and running. I've run into some obstacles with this, but I just need to bite the bullet and go one way or the other. I've started with Payvment, but it's pretty limited in terms of turning on and off shipping for individual items, so if anyone has suggestions of better online Facebook shop platforms, I'm all ears. 
• Dream up my spring menu. I can't wait for all the wonderful fruit that spring brings with it: 
• Apricots (only perfect honey-sweet ones though, like the ones I read about in Lucky Peach Vol. 2. That article killed me. David Chang and the whole gang continually prove themselves geniuses.)
• Kiwis
• Early cherries
• The best of Meyer lemons, limes
• Juice-filled, blood red, homegrown strawberries
• Start taking more seasonal subscribers. I'm planning to open up orders for cookie boxes, pie boxes, candy and southern treat boxes (for local customers) and any combination thereof.
• Take more photos and share more recipes!
• Go to more events at 18 Reasons. And by more events, I mean start going to events because I've never been, and that is a damn shame. Like these DIY Dessert events that happen every so often. Caaaake.

So that is what has been on my mind in this long break from substantial blogging. I love the blog, but I want to grow myself and this little project of mine in a lot of different directions, so it's been secondary to other things for a bit. But I promise to check in often. As always, keep in touch! E-mail me, Tweet me, Facebook me for anything your heart desires!

New Treat: Double Chocolate-Pecan Toffee

This stuff is no joke. It starts with a thick toffee center, then has a layer of dark chocolate and toasted pecans on one side. I let that set, and then I pour another layer on the other side. So, yes, this is the real deal.

Now being offered for $5.00 by the box, which is five big chunks (that's a whole lotta toffee for you and your friends).

And I'd give the recipe out for this one, but some things are better kept secret. Hmmm...

That's some hot toffee right there.

Brownie-Batter Cookies

I guess I sort of made these by accident one day. After going to the potluck at Pie Ranch and trying some cookies just like these, I had to have some of my own. If you just undercook them, they have gooey brownie batter insides while remaining firm and chewy on the outside. Give them a dusting of powdered sugar and serve them with a glass of (soy) milk, and you're golden. You're basically like Midas, but with cookies.

This isn't my photo, it's from Saving Today. Pa-leez, mine went in my belly too fast for photos.

Anything Goes Brownie Mix Cookies

Sort of Adapted from cooks.com

Ingredients
1 package (18 oz) Ghirardelli dark chocolate chip brownie mix
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
3 tbsp water
2 eggs

Directions
(please, oh please, be precise about baking times, otherwise these will be hard as rock)
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix all ingredients together except the eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs lightly and then add to the rest of the ingredients. Combine.
3. OPTIONAL: You can basically throw whatever you want in here. I've thrown in brown sugar, two melted marshmallows, a bit of bacon grease (SUE ME, DAMMIT), chopped walnuts, and M&Ms
4. Drop by the tablespoon (or as large as you want) onto a greased baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Dust with powdered sugar.
5. Cook about 9 minutes, or until the center is just firming up. Take out of the oven and let cool. I dare you.

Notes:
- The batter will be runny like brownie batter, just trust that it will be A-okay.
- Cookies will be thin, but gooey. I'm sure there is a way to amend this, but then the cookies wouldn't be as easy to scarf down. That's a problem
- To store, make sure you put them in an airtight package. If you leave them out, they will harden.

UPDATE: My friend Leia just recommended that you roll these in granulated sugar before baking. You'll have to add a full cup of flour if you want to be able to do this, but it will add crunchiness to the outside of the cookie and the cookies will keep their shape better. Thanks, Leia!

Banana Custard Pie with Chocolate Fudge

I spent last weekend in Los Angeles with my lovely friend Amber, and I made her this banana custard pie with chocolate fudge on the bottom crust. We ate it for breakfast for three days, and each time I forgot to take pictures of the final product. Oh well, I tried!

Banana Custard Pie with Chocolate Fudge

Recipe adapted from La Fuji Mama

Pie Crust
1 1/4 cup AP flour
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

Custard
1 2/3 cup water
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz.)
3 large egg yolks, beaten
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Fudge Layer
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp butter

Extras
1-2 bananas, sliced
Heavy whipping cream

1. Assemble the pie crust: Sift together the flour, salt, and sugar. Mix in the butter and shortening (both cut into small squares and kept very cold) until incorporated. Let chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Roll out and place in pie pan. Pre-bake the crust at 350F for 40 minutes or until lightly browned. This is the only time you'll be baking the crust, so cook it to your preference. Let cool slightly.

2. Make the custard: Mix together water and cornstarch until the cornstarch dissolves. Whisk in the condensed milk and egg yolks and cook on medium heat until it gets thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add in butter and vanilla until the butter dissolves. Set aside to cool.

3. Make the chocolate layer: Heat the chocolate chips and butter in a double-boiler until melted. Immediately place in the cooked pie crust.

4. Create a layer of bananas: Add the slices to the top of the chocolate layer.

5. Add the custard: Pour the cooled custard over the bananas until it reaches the top of the pie crust.

6. Cool. Chill the pie in the fridge for at least 4 hours. To prevent a film from forming over the custard, place cling wrap over the top.

7. Top with whipped cream.

8. Eat it.

The Perfect Backpacking S'more

1 Marshmallow, Roasted to Perfection (w/ a heart-shaped burn mark please)

2 Keebler Chocolate Graham Cookies

1 Stick you found on the ground

1 Fire, burned to embers

Just stick the marshmallow on the stick, brown it nicely in the embers, and sandwich it between two chocolate-covered graham cracker cookies. And it hardly adds any weight to your pack.

I had a fantastic weekend and we made delicious backpacking food. My friend Colin took all the photos. He is a much better photographer than I could ever hope to be.

Happy Father's Day Low-Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Father's Day, everyone! My father taught me how to make real southern biscuits and how to grill onion-stuffed hamburgers, but he has no idea what to do when it comes to baking cookies. And he loves cookies, so this has been a real handicap for him. He has to depend on my mom and I to make him cookies, which we do for special occassions. 

My dad is also pre-diabetic, and everything he eats is low in sugar or sugar-free. Now I don't even want to know what a sugar-free homebaked chocolate chip cookie would taste like, but I made these low-sugar ones, and they taste pretty similar to regular chocolate chip cookies. The secret: tons of nice vanilla and almond extract, half butter/half margarine, White Lily flour, and egg whites only. 

Low-Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from the Guittard Standard Recipe

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups of White Lily All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt (+ more for sprinkling over the tops before baking)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup margarine or shortening, softened

1 1/4 cup Splenda

1/4 cup brown sugar (these are low sugar, not NO sugar!)

2 large egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

2 cups (or less, depending on your taste) semisweet chocolate chips -- the darker, the better, IMO

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. 

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. 

3. In a large bowl, cream the butters/margarines with the sugars until light. Beat in the egg whites and vanilla and almond extract until smooth. Gradually add the flour mixture until combined. Add in the chocolate chips and nuts. 

4. Drop by the teaspoon onto a baking sheet (I prefer to use parchment paper on these and then there's no cleanup). Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet and then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Flour and Sugar,
Carrie Melissa