Chocolate Crinkles

When I was a kid we would take frequent trips to a local orchard for pies, apples, donuts and cider. They also sold cookies and one of my favorites was the Chocolate Crinkle. I loved the rich, craggy, chocolate cookie dusted with confectioner's sugar, so when I saw this recipe for Chocolate Crinkle Cookies over at Ommy Noms I thought I'd give it a try.


You all know I'm not a baker, but the recipe was really simple and the results were delicious. I had my doubts, though. The mix looked more like cake batter than cookie dough, even after chilling for 4 hours. And the cookies didn't cook in the 10-12 minutes stated in the recipe, so I had to put them back in the oven. Thankfully, after they cooled the cookies crisped up and finally resembled the beloved chocolate crinkle from my childhood.

Note - This made a ton of cookies, and they were pretty large because I don't own cookie scoops, so I'd cut the recipe in half next time. They also didn't cook in 12 minutes so I upped the cook time to 15 to 18 minutes.

Chocolate Crinkles
Ommy Noms

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hours. The dough will resemble cake batter and remain sticky, even after chilling.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. I needed 4 cookie sheets total. Roll dough into one inch balls, using a number 50 size scoop if available. Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

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Recipe Swap Roundup - Dessert

If you love dessert be prepared to drool all over your keyboard. There were a lot of great submissions for this swap so without further ado...

Jey had to switch berries for her recipe due to the steep price of blueberries right now, but her modified Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes were still delicious:


Heather made a delicious, light and refreshing summer dessert - Key Lime Bars:


Melissa had a craving for s'mores and lucked out with S'More Cups for the swap:


Jaida adapted her recipe into a delicious Blackberry-Peach Sorbet:


Katie's recipe for Peach and Blueberry Crisp was a big hit at her husband's office (along with ice cream, of course):


The Cookaholic Wife made a delicious and easy Chinese Bakery Style Cake:


Kate made another fun summer dessert - Mini Key Lime Pies:


I made Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting, which I loved:


Maryanna, a newcomer to the swaps, made Chocolate Covered Oreo Cupcakes that look divine:


Krystal really enjoyed her recipe for Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies:


Moviegirl03 baked outside her comfort zone with Chocolate Almond Cheesecake:


Christine had my recipe for Peanut Butter Bananas Chocolate Chip Cookies and I was happy to see that she thought they were amazing:


Lisa made Cherry Chocolate Chunkies:


She doesn't have a blog so here is her review:

Cookies are always a challenge for me. I usually have to make them at least twice to get them right due to the fact that I have to adjust for high altitude. Due to allergies, I had to remove the macadamia nuts, and due to living in a rural area, I didn't have access to candied cherries. I used canned cherries instead (they were huge so I chopped them up). They turned out a little flat, but that happens up here if I don't adjust the recipe appropriately. Despite all of the modifications, and the fact that I didn't adjust for altitude properly, my husband absolutely loved them. He said they were the best cookies I've ever made (and I know he wasn't just trying to make me feel better). Will absolutely try them again!

Coleen made Chocolate Cheesecake but unfortunately doesn't know where her camera is amongst all the boxes from her recent move. You can read her review here.

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Recipe Swap - Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting

Want to see what other Dessert recipes were made during the swap? Here is the link to the Dessert Recipe Swap Roundup



This week's recipe swap theme was dessert. I've been avoiding this one for a long time because, as many of you know, I'm not a baker. I don't particularly enjoy baking and I certainly don't like having the sweet stuff around the house to tempt me. But dessert is a popular thing on my cooking board and I knew I'd have to cave eventually. There were a lot of excellent recipes submitted for this swap so if you aren't like me and actually enjoy baking, you're going to want to check this one out.





Luckily I ended up with my friend Jaida's recipe for Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting. Cake is my one weakness when it comes to dessert. Ice cream, cookies, chocolate bars, etc. I can take or leave but I'm powerless when it comes to cake.





In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't make the frosting on these cupcakes. We were out of town the weekend I made these and I simply ran out of time. I do plan to make it someday, though, since Jaida assures me it's amazing and worth the time and effort.







Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting

Sweet Beginnings

Makes 30 cupcakes



Note: If you can't find cake flour use this easy method - to make 2 cups cake flour, combine 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour with 1/4 cup cornstarch.



3 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon sifted cake flour, divided

4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

1 stick plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 3/4 cups sugar

5 large egg whites, room temperature

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips



Heat oven to 350 degrees.



Line muffin tins with paper liners (recipe makes approx. 30 cupcakes). Whisk together 3 1/4 cups cake flour, salt and baking powder. In a separate bowl combine the milk and vanilla.



With a mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter until smooth, and then add the sugar in a steady stream until pale and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of the milk mixture, beating until combined after each addition.



In another bowl, whisk the egg whites with a mixer on medium speed until stiff peaks form. You can also do this by hand with a whisk, which is what I did. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter to lighten. Gently fold the remaining egg whites until just combined. Toss chocolate chips with remaining tablespoon cake flour and gently fold into batter.



Divide the batter evenly among the lined cups, about 3/4 full. Bake about 22 minutes for standard size, 12 minutes for miniature, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool before removing cupcakes and cooling to room temperature.



Dark Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon boiling water

2 1/4 cups unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 lbs semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled



Combine cocoa and boiling water, stirring until cocoa is dissolved. With a mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, confectioners’ sugar and salt until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add the melted, cooled chocolate, beating until combined and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the cocoa mixture. Frost cooled cupcakes with a frosting spatula.

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Fried Oreos

This weekend we went to a street fair. While we were walking around I noticed someone carrying a plate with what looked like fried Oreos. I've always wanted to try them so we went over to the food court and got some to share.


They came six to an order and looked like they were coated in funnel cake batter. Yum!


Unfortunately they weren't fried to order so the batter and Oreos were lukewarm at best. They were good, but I know they would have been better piping hot.

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Roast Pork from DiNic's (and other Reading Terminal Market goodies)

My mom and I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show at the beginning of the month. While we enjoy the gorgeous flower arrangements as we celebrate the unofficial start of spring, our real reason for loving the flower show is going across the street to Reading Terminal Market for lunch. This year I decided I wanted a sandwich from DiNic's. I ordered the roast pork with provolone and greens (choice of spinach or broccoli rabe - I chose the rabe):


It was amazing. Simply amazing. The pork was incredibly flavorful, the rabe wasn't bitter and the juices that soaked into the bread made this addictive. My mom wasn't even hungry and she ate a few bites. After eating the sandwich we were in the mood for something sweet but we were both stuffed so we picked up some cupcakes from Flying Monkey to take home.


Top row: peanut butter plaid, bottom row: boozy butter pecan and pumpkin spice:


I tried half the peanut butter and half the butter pecan and while both were good, they weren't something I'd have again, not when there's utterly amazing bread pudding with whiskey sauce to be had at Beck's Cajun Cafe. They'll give you free samples of anything they make - score!

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Lidia's Sugo

It's been a really long time since we had Sunday dinners at our house, but one weekend my mom requested we make Lidia Bastianich's sugo and meatballs. We were happy to oblige. Just look at this gorgeous platter of food:


I have to give SP complete credit for this meal. I took care of Baby Girl while he spent the day in the kitchen making the sugo and the meatballs.


My parents brought a loaf of bread for sopping up all the sauce. This is one delicious meal. We couldn't stop eating the meatballs, which are made with sausage.

For dessert I bought two little pies, the first a Reese's peanut butter pie:


... and the second a key lime:


We barely had any room for dessert but I tried a slice of each. Yum!

Long-Cooked Sugo and Meatballs
Lidia's Family Table by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich

For the soffritto:
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions (3/4 pound), minced in a food processor
3 or 4 plump shallots, minced in a food processor
2 or 3 fat garlic cloves, minced in a food processor (about 2 tablespoons)
1 large carrot, peeled and minced in a food processor (about 1 cup)
2 large stalks celery, minced in a food processor (about 1 cup)
5 or 6 fresh bay leaves
1/4 cup tomato paste

For the sugo:
One 35-ounce can plum tomatoes and juices, passed through a food mill (4 cups)
8 to 12 cups or more hot chicken broth, vegetable broth or hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, stripped from the stem
1/4 teaspoon peperoncino (hot red pepper flakes), or to taste
Sausage meatballs: Recipe follows

Frying the soffritto and starting the sugo:

Pour the olive oil into the pan, drop in the onions and shallots and set over medium-high heat. Stir for a minute or two, until the onions begin to sizzle. Drop the garlic into the hot spot and spread it out to caramelize for a minute, then stir with onions. Stir in carrot and celery; drop in the bay leaves and cook the soffritto for another 4 minutes, until it is starting to dry out. Lower heat if necessary to prevent burning.

Push vegetables to the side and drop tomato paste into a hot spot. Toast it for a minute or more, then blend it into the soffritto. Pour in the milled tomatoes and juices and stir. Bring the sauce to a boil quickly and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or more, stirring frequently, until it has just begun to thicken.

Pour in 4 cups of the broth, stir it in. Stir in another quart of broth and bring to a lively boil. Stir in the orange zest, fresh thyme leaves, and up to 1/2 teaspoon of peperonicino, to taste. Cover the pot and adjust the heat to maintain a steady but gentle bubbling all over the surface of the sugo. Let it cook for at least an hour or longer, checking the pot every 20 minutes or so. It should be reducing steadily. If it's barely dropping, or not at all, raise the heat and set the cover ajar to speed its concentration. If it's dropping extremely fast, lower the heat to slow evaporation. Add hot broth or water if needed to keep sauce at the level you want.

Have the sugo at a gentle simmer over low heat when the meatballs are fried and ready to go into the saucepan. Have hot broth or water on hand if needed. Drop meatballs in one at a time; fit as many as you can in the bottom of the pan in one one layer, but leave enough space to roll them around. Drop the rest of the meatballs in to make a second layer. Add hot broth or water if necessary so the meatballs are all covered with liquid. Stir gently to mix the broth with the sugo - don't break the meatballs!

Cover the pan and raise the heat slightly to bring the sugo back to a simmer. Set cover ajar and adjust heat to maintain steady simmering (but no threat of burning the meat on the bottom) and cook meatballs 35 to 40 minutes. Turn off heat and let meatballs cool in sugo and absorb more of its flavor (unless you need them right away). When cool, remove them to a big bowl. If the sauce is thin, return to a boil gradually and cook uncovered to thicken. Stir frequently as it thickens; reduce it whatever consistency you like. Taste the sauce during this final cooking, and add salt, if needed, or adjust other seasonings.

Sausage Meatballs with Fresh Fennel and Orange

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced in a food processor
1/3 of a small fennel, minced in a food processor (about 2/3 cup)
2 fat garlic cloves, minced in a food processor
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 pounds sweet Italian sausage (without fennel seeds)
3 large eggs, well beaten with a pinch of salt
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, stripped from the stem
1 heaping cup dry bread crumbs
1 cup or more all-purpose flour
2 cups or more vegetable oil
Salt for sprinkling

Pour olive oil into medium skillet, drop in the minced onion and fennel and set over medium-high heat. Stir them in the pan for a minute or two, until they begin to sizzle; clear a space for garlic and get it sizzling on the side for a minute or so. Sprinkle on half the salt and stir all together. Turn down heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are wilted and slightly dried, but don't let them color at all. Scrape them out of the pan to cool.

Meanwhile, take all the sausage meat out of the casing (if packed in links), crumble it up well and spread it out in a large mixing bowl. Pour beaten eggs on top. Add parsley, remaining salt, pepper, orange zest, thyme leaves, and spread over it all the cooled onions, fennel, garlic and bread crumbs. Now fold, toss and squeeze meat and seasonings together with your hands and fingers to distribute ingredients evenly.

Spread flour about 1/4 inch deep in the center of a baking sheet or large plate. Pour vegetable oil into large, heavy skillet or saute pan (12 inches in diameter if possible) - to a depth of at least 1/3 inch. Scoop up a portion of meat and lightly shape between your palms into 2-inch balls, a bit larger than golf balls. Drop each ball onto floured sheet, roll it around until coated, then place it on another baking sheet. Form and flour all the balls in this manner.

Set the skillet over high heat until oil is very hot. With tongs or a spatula, carefully transfer meatballs to pan, as many as you can, leaving at least an inch between them. Cook for a minute or two, until they've started to brown on the bottom, then turn them continuously until golden-crusted on all sides, about 6 minutes. As they are done, transfer fried balls to a baking sheet. When the meatballs are all on the tray, sprinkle salt lightly over them.

Before frying the next batch, turn off the heat and, with a fine-meshed skimmer or strainer, remove any browned bits from the oil. Add oil if needed to restore the 1/3-inch depth, and heat it up again. When all the meatballs are fried, cook them again with the sugo, following previous instructions.

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Christmas Dinner

This year my mom took over the cooking of the traditional Christmas feast. She made a standing rib roast, which my stepdad expertly carved:


... as well as Yorkshire pudding with the pan drippings:


My mom took these pics because I was feeding the baby, so I don't have closeups of the green beans with almonds or the mashed potatoes, but here's a table shot:


And my plate with a little bit of everything:


The meat was done perfectly, nice and rare. Everything was fantastic and a great meal to celebrate our first Christmas with Baby Girl. Dessert was a yummy, dense chocolate cake:


... and coffee. I could have eaten half the cake, it was that good.

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Caramel Apple Walnut Pie

This year we had planned to host Thanksgiving dinner for the family, but things have been so crazy we just couldn't do it. SP and my mom decided to split the meal, each taking a few dishes to make so neither was overworked. One of our items was dessert, a Caramel Apple Walnut Pie:


Normally I don't like pie (I'm not a fan of chunks of cooked fruit) but the apples in this pie cooked down to be almost like applesauce, which was perfect.


Caramel Apple Walnut Pie
Makes 8 servings

8 tablespoons butter, divided use
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 cups thinly-sliced apples
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 soft caramel candies
1 unbaked pie crust
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Add the lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon. Add the apples and cook until soft. Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in corn starch, vanilla, and caramels. Place crust into a 9-inch pie pan. Mound the apple caramel mixture into the crust. Melt remaining butter. Mix in flour, brown sugar, and walnuts. Top pie with mixture and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown. Cool for 1 hour before slicing.

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Titanic Dinner

A few weeks ago our friend C & T invited us over for a Titanic Dinner. They had been to a museum in NYC and bought a book about the final meals on the Titanic. T opted to do the third class menu, which included a delicious vegetable soup:


... pork roast with mushrooms, boiled potato, peas and biscuits:


Dessert was actually plum pudding, but since none of the recipes sounded good T subbed one of our favorites, sticky toffee pudding:


Everything was delicious, although the biscuits weren't so good. Luckily T bought some rolls as well. I took these pictures using her light box and I think they came out pretty good.

Here's the recipe for the vegetable soup:

Titanic Veggie Soup

2 tbsp butter
1 chopped onion
1 cup celery
1 cup carrot
1 potato, peeled and cubed
5 cloves of garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
6 cups of chicken or veg stock
2 cups white kidney beans drained
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup asparagus tips
2 cups shredded Swiss chard or spinach

Melt butter, stir in onion, celery, potato, carrot, garlic, oregano, thyme and bay leaf for 10 minutes or until onion is translucent. Stir in stock, boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until veggies are tender

Meanwhile: drain and rinse beans. Stir beans, corn and asparagus into veg mixture. Cook for 5 minutes or until asparagus is bright green and tender. Stir in Swiss chard or spinach. Season with salt and pepper.

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Funfetti Cupcakes

I wanted to bake something fun a few weekends ago, so I asked SP to pick up a box of Funfetti cake mix and frosting at the store. It's just so fun with the colorful sprinkles both in the cake and as a colorful finish.


I know I've said here many times that I'm not a baker, so forgive me for using such a shortcut. I have to say, though, I really love the flavor of boxed mix and canned frosting. It's the stuff of my childhood and while homemade is good, for me there's nothing like this stuff.

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Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

In my quest for banana recipes I also came across this one for Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies. I baked a batch on a recent Sunday for us to enjoy during the week.


The cookies are seriously addictive. I could have eaten about 4 in one sitting even though they were incredibly rich.


I love the combo of peanut butter and chocolate and peanut butter and banana so combining all three made perfect sense. I can't wait to make these again. Just writing this blog post is making my mouth water.

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
Slightly Modified from Cathy's Kitchen

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 banana, sliced
15 teaspoons peanut butter (give or take)

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes, up to one hour. This is a very important step, so don't skip it. The butter in the dough needs to firm up again or your cookies will spread in the oven.

After the dough has chilled, use a small cookie scoop to make mounds of dough on the cookie sheet. Using the back of the scoop, make a dent in the top for the banana slice. Place a slice of banana, then place about 1 teaspoon of peanut butter on top of the banana slice. Scoop another dough ball, flatten and mound on top. You should have a big dough ball now.

Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes approximately 15 giant cookies.

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Shrimp Boil

We had my parents over for dinner on a recent Sunday and I wanted to do something different. When I was a kid my mom would make artichokes and the three of us would sit around the table peeling off the leaves and dipping them in melted butter. Since I've been on an artichoke crazy I thought it would be a fun trip down memory lame (and a chance for SP to experience a real artichoke).


These were a little small, which ended up working perfectly as an appetizer before dinner. I started by cutting the end off the stems and then peeling the outer layer off so we could eat them later. I cut the very top off the artichokes and then trimmed the top off each leaf. Once they were trimmed I put them in a pot with a steamer basket and cooked them for about 45 minutes.

For the shrimp I left them in the shell and used the recipe on the back of the Old Bay seasoning - water, vinegar, Old Bay and shrimp boiled together for about 5 minutes.


I also cooked 4 ears of corn that SP asked me to cut in half to more closely resemble a true shrimp boil. We layered newspaper on top of the table to keep with the same theme. It was a ton of fun!


My plate with some shrimp, corn and a baked potato:


I baked the potatoes at 450 degrees for about an hour.

My stepdad made dessert:


... brownies with ice cream topped with a raspberry. I was so full by the time we got to dessert that I couldn't finish my entire serving, but it was delicious.

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Peaches with Vanilla Ice Cream

I bought a basket of peaches at the farmer's market just so we could have peaches with vanilla ice cream:


I peeled and diced a few peaches before cooking them with butter, brown sugar and OJ. Once the sauce got nice and thick I poured it over scoops of creamy ice cream. Delicious and so summery.

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Fourth of July Cookout

For the Fourth of July we had my stepbrother and his wife over for a cookout. We had invited another couple but unfortunately the wife was very sick with bronchitis and they couldn't make it. We had a ton of food and it was all delicious. My plate with a burger and helpings of both salads:


After eating this tri-colore salad at one of my ladies lunches I knew I had to make it.


I couldn't stop eating it. Delicious and healthy. My stepbrother made a tomato and red onion salad with mozzarella and a balsamic vinegar dressing:


In my opinion you can't go wrong with mozzarella and tomato. I also grilled some corn, although this time we tried something different. Usually I grill the corn straight on the grates (no foil wrapping) but SP saw grilled corn in one of my food magazines and liked the idea of wrapping it up with butter and salt beforehand.


Unfortunately it takes a lot longer to cook like that, so we took it off the grill before it got nice char marks. I'm going back to my old method. For dessert my sister-in-law brought a boxed cake mix for chocolate lava cakes. We whipped these up after dinner and had them with vanilla ice cream:


The cakes were small but sinfully rich. A great ending to a great meal.

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