Baked Explorations: Sweet and Salty Brownies

As I said in my last post, my new obsession is Baked Explorations.  It is by far the best baking book I own and everything I've made out of it (so far) has been fantastically tasty.  Honestly, though, I got the book for one recipe in particular.  The one that alerted me to the world of Baked (the sweet kind, not that other type) and convinced me that I had to own this book.  It is... drum roll please... sweet and salty brownies!!

Although salty brownies may sound disgusting not so appetizing, let me assure you that the fabulous authors of the book know what they're talking about.  It's not the browines themselves that are salty, however, but a surprise in the center of the brownie.  Salted Caramel.  Although I had trouble making the caramel the first time and ended up burning it (in my defense it looked fine), the second batch came out golden and uber delicious, with a hint of salt.  After spreading half of the batter in the pan, I added the caramel in the middle and then the rest of the batter on top, and sprinkled it with coarse raw sugar to add a little crunch and sweetness when it came out of the oven.  I guess I'm always a little nervous when trying out new recipes, so I was worried that the brownies wouldn't come out right.  Needless to say my worries were uncalled for.  The brownies were rich and dark chocolatey, with the carmel adding subtle notes of  butter and salt.  They were even better microwaved for a bit so that the caramel started to ooze out of the brownie and make it super moist.  The only thing I have left to say about them is:  TRY THEM!

Baked Explorations: Honey Corn Muffins

So I have a new obsession... and it's a book.  Not just any book though, it's Baked Explorations written by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, the same book I used for the oatmeal chocolate chip cake.  Somehow, this book, written in the epitome of urban living, has been able to capture the true taste of southern eating, the corn muffin.

Having grown up in southern Mississippi, corn muffins, along with cornbread, have been a staple on my family's dinner table for as long as I can remember.  That said, I had never had a "from scratch" corn muffin before I made this recipe.  My family, like millions of others, has always relied on Jiffy to supply us with delicious yellow nuggets.  They're cheap, delicious, and oh so easy to make, so why mess with a sure thing.  I'll tell you why.  It's because homemade corn muffins blow Jiffy out of the water!  I never knew what corn muffins tasted like until I made these, and now I think I'm seriously addicted.  Lauren and I ate one (or more) of those heavenly treats everyday until they were gone, which probably should've taken us twice as long as it did.  But I don't care.  Those were the most tender, moist, melt-in-your mouth corn muffins that I've ever experienced... and I've eaten my fair share of muffins.  I've been without those muffins for two days, and I'm already having withdrawls.  So instead of continuing to write about how delicious and mind blowing they are, I think I'll just go make another batch instead.

Cream Cheese Banana Bread

There was a time when I detested banana bread.  I had eaten nothing but banana bread and muffins for breakfast that month and was just banana-ed out.  Those days have long gone and I am back to loving banana bread like crazy.  Lucky for me, we had about six bananas too many at our house and had to do something with them.  My mom, ever the Southern Living Cookbook collector, pulled out several of her books and flipped through the banana recipes.  Two of the recipes sounded very appealing: cream cheese banana bread and banana bread cobbler.  While the cobbler sounded amazing, it wasn't breakfast material, so I decided to make the cream cheese one.

Everything went smoothly with the recipe.  I made it by myself so it took a little longer than I'm sure it would've otherwise, but I put it in the oven, pleased.  Because I was still a little saddened from not having a moist/gooey oatmeal chocolate chip cake, I decided to underbake the bread by seven minutes.  Although it looked beautiful, it was way too dense inside and I was really disappointed, even though it tasted good.  Next time, I think I'll just stick with the recipe.  (Same as with the previous post, if you would like the recipe please comment and let me know.  Anyone is allowed to leave comments on here, whether you have a blog or not!)

Baked Explorations: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake

For Christmas this year, I got an amazing present from my grandparents, Baked Explorations.  It is an amazing baking book from the guys who own Baked in Brooklyn, NY.  As I was reading the book (yes, I LOVE reading cook books), I came across a recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cake in the breakfast section.  As a big lover of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, it immediately caught my eye.  Several days later I was in the mood to bake something, but couldn't figure out what to make.  After much deliberation, I decided to try a new recipe and made the cake. 

Because it's a "breakfast" cake, the recipe was very easy to follow and came together in no time.  When the cake was done baking and cooled, I frosted it with a cream cheese frosting (my fave) and cut into it.  While it tasted fantastic, I think next time I'll under bake it and maybe add some more chocolate chips.  Besides those minor details, I was super pleased with my new recipe and new book!  (If you would like the recipe for the cake, comment the page and let me know.  I'd definitely be willing to share the recipe!)



Photo taken by Lauren

Best Ever Parker House Rolls

I. Love. Carbs.  I'm not going to lie.  I am obsessed with bread.  I love it fried, with sandwiches, dipped in olive oil, covered in buttery cinnamon, baked in bread pudding, and especially warm and slathered with butter.  The only problem is, bread is scary to make at home.  Or so I thought...

Last year, as my first bread recipe, I decided to make Julia Child's brioche, but that's a story for another post.  After my failure with that, I swore off making bread for a while.  Once I saw the recipe for Alex Guarnaschelli's Parker House Rolls in the November edition of Food Network Magazine, however, I knew that I had to give bread making another try.  Boy am I glad I did!  Not only was the recipe easy for me and Lauren (my sister) to follow, but the rolls came out as pretty as the ones in the magazine.  I knew that the rolls looked good, but I was nervous that they wouldn't taste good or would be too dry, as is what happened with my previous bread making.  Well Chef Alex did not steer me wrong!  The rolls were every bit as amazing as they looked, so amazing that we kept them at home instead of bringing them to our family's Thanksgiving lunch.  To make up for their lost rolls, Lauren and I made two more batches of rolls on Christmas Eve, for both sides of our family.  The rolls came out just as perfect as the first time, and not a single one of the 32 rolls was left over!  This recipe has definitely become a new favorite in our house.  I'm not going to post the recipe below because it has a lot of steps, but the title is the link to the recipe on Food Network dot com.