Brownie Cut outs – Secret Recipe club

This month, I was lucky enough to be assigned the Secrets from the Cookie Princess blog.

From her description:

“For 2011, I made 142 dozen cookies. I know it’s less than last year, but I also made pie, bars, muffins, candy and a bunch of other stuff. Don’t judge me.”

What’s not to love about that? (and no one here that just let their children eat popcorn for dinner is judging, believe me.) Someone at Secret Recipe HQ must know my weakness for baked goods. There were plenty to choose from here. I was tempted by these PB Chocolate Surprises, and then these Lumberjack Cookies. But finally, I settled on these Brownie Cut out cookies. And they were a big hit.

I even served them on this adorable Fishs Eddy notebook paper plate that my sweet boss gave me. Kind of like a love letter, written in chocolate hearts.

Brownie Cut outs, from Smitten Kitchen, via the Cookie Princess.

 

• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder.  Set aside. In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment, beat butter then add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, vanilla and cocoa powder, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape sides of bowl as needed to incorporate. Switch to a paddle attachment and gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until combined. Turn dough out onto a counter top and knead together any last bits of dough to create a ball.  Divide into 4 parts, wrap in plastic and chill for at least an hour. Working with one part of dough at a time, roll dough out onto a lightly floured surface to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick, depending on your preference. Cut into desired shapes and arrange on cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 (for 1/8 inch thick cookies) to 11 minutes (for 1/4 inch thick cookies), until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly soft and puffy.  I served mine with a little bit of powdered sugar on top.

Salad in a jar

I’m the worst when it comes to packing lunch. This is because I’m way too lazy, and always too rushed (due to sleeping in from laziness, of course). So I’ve finally come to accept that I need an option that is completely grab and go. This is it. 100% stolen from Secret Recipe Club.

Start with dressing. I used 3 T hot pepper olive oil + 1 T cider vinegar + a dash of oregano. Then layer in whatever you like, putting items not likely to wilt on the bottom and ending with the delicate bits. Mine goes carrots, celery, sprouts, mushrooms, spinach. When you’re ready to eat it, shake and dump into a bowl.

I made three of these on Tuesday, then ate one each day Wed, Thurs, and Fri. They held up deliciously.

 

Chocolate Coca Cola cakes

It’s time again for another episode of…

Each month, every Secret Recipe Club member gets a secret blog assignment. From this secret blog, they choose a secret recipe to make in secret. Only on Secret Recipe Club day are all these secrets revealed.

Friends – today is that day.

This month, I was lucky enough to be assigned Join Us, Pull up a chair, a lovely blog by Heather. Although I really had my eye on these Jalapeno Popovers, I couldn’t resist these Guiness cupcakes. I made a few substitutions (including Coke for Guiness – hardly a fair trade I admit) and came up with these wonderfully moist, dark beauties. They would be fabulous with buttercream or cream cheese frosting, but I couldn’t resist the Halloween perfection of those rich dark tops and bright orange liners.

Plus without frosting, you can pretend they’re muffins and eat them for breakfast, yes?

Chocolate Coca Cola Cupcakes

• 1 cup Coca Cola
• 1 stick, plus 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with paper liners (this recipe makes 24 cupcakes).

Combine the coke and the butter in a microwavable bowl. Heat to melt the butter. Once it’s melted, remove from the heat and whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl, combine the mayo with the eggs and vanilla. Once combined, add to the coke mixture. Sift the flour and baking soda together and fold into the batter. Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes and then remove from the pan. Cool completely on a rack.

Watermelon Feta salad

It’s another month of Secret Recipe Club. This month, I was lucky enough to be assigned La Phemme Phoodie, a delightful blog on food, travel, and eating in Philly.

Her photos are gorgeous:

Lobster in Maine

Supper dog at a Philly hotspot

Gummy bears, lined up for Gummy Bear shots

Blackberry soup (looks totally to die for)

It was a tough choice, but I finally decided to make this Watermelon Feta salad,
adapted only slightly to what we had on hand. It was fun and delicious, and my mom helped.

We cubed about 4 cups of watermelon, peeled and cubed a cucumber (the very last one in the garden!), threw in some crumbled feta, and drizzled everything with Olive Orchard Greek oil. Perfect side!

Check out all of today’s secret recipe club reveals here: