Valentine’s Day gives me all those sappy love feels, not just because of all the hearts and pink covered chocolates in the stores, but because that was the day Matt and I had our first official date ten years ago. The two weeks after we met we had our little dinner dates in the dining hall and lunches on the quad, but this was our first real date.

When Matt asked me to go out to dinner on “Thursday” I didn’t even realize it was Valentine’s Day at first. As we walked through Boston we held hands in the pocket of Matt’s coat since neither of us brought gloves on the cold night. Matt wanted to surprise me and show me this hidden sneaker store. It is fronted by a convenience store and you have to walk through the Snapple machine in the back so he said he needed deodorant to get me to go over there (not sure why he picked something so unromantic and didn’t go with shampoo or something 😂 but sappy and goofy sums us up pretty well). Then we went and had burgers, fries, and milkshakes; I can still feel the energy of that night like it was just last week.

Since I was especially feeling like celebrating love this year I wanted to make something that looked cute while tasting next-level delicious. Enter these Chocolate-Dipped Browned Butter Rice Krispie Treats.

I find normal krispie treats bland so I started brainstorming on how to make them into a treat I would want a second and a third of. My first thought was to cover it in semisweet chocolate since chocolate makes everything better and it would also let me use the adorable heart sprinkles I bought.

Then I looked at the recipe on the back of the Rice Krispies box and thought that if we were bothering to melt the butter we might as well keep melting to brown it to create a richer, toasted flavor, similar to my Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Lastly, adding some extra mini marshmallows at the end gives you little pockets of gooey marshmallow. These amped up krispie treats are so quick to make, but when you’re done they look (and taste!) like they just came out of a bakery. Time to express your sappy love feels this Valentine’s Day with these Chocolate-Dipped Browned Butter Rice Krispie Treats!

Chocolate Dipped Browned Butter Rice Krispie Treats

 

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Yield: 12 regular or 9 jumbo krispie treats

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 4¾ cups mini marshmallows
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus more as needed
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, plus more as needed
• Sprinkles

Directions

1. Line a 13x9 pan or a 9x9 pan (see note) with nonstick aluminum foil and set aside.
2. In a large pot big enough to fit all the cereal, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, making sure to continuously swirl the pan, until the butter is golden brown in color, about 4 minutes. Lower the heat then add 4 cups of the marshmallows, stirring until melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.
3. Add the cereal to the pot and gently stir until coated. Gently stir in the remaining ¾ cup of mini marshmallows. Pour the contents of the pot into the prepared pan and spread evenly. I used a small piece of wax paper to lightly press on the krispie treats in the pan to create an even-ish surface without pressing too hard (you don’t want the krispie treats to be dense). Let cool completely.
4. Once cooled, remove the foil from the pan and cut the krispie treats with a sharp knife. Line a small baking pan or sturdy cutting board that will fit in your fridge with wax paper and set aside.
5. Add the chocolate chips and the vegetable oil to a microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl. I used a 2 cup measuring cup since it is deep and narrow - ideal for chocolate dipping. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, then continue microwaving and stirring at 15-second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted. Dip half the krispie treat into the melted chocolate and let the excess drip off. Coat with sprinkles and set on the wax paper to cool. Continue with the remaining krispie treats, melted more chocolate as needed, then place in the fridge to allow the chocolate to harden. Remove from the fridge as soon as the chocolate has hardened then store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Notes

For 12 normal-sized krispie treats use a 13x9 pan. For 9 jumbo-sized krispie treats use a 9x9 pan.
The krispie treats stay for a few days, but they taste best the same day.

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Happy February! If you missed the last post, I am baking, photographing, eating, and posting each of the Food Network Magazine’s 12 Months of Muffins. February’s muffin does not disappoint: Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Muffins. Yup, you read that correctly. Chocolate and caramel – life is so sweet.

Chocolate muffins are basically cupcakes disguised as acceptable breakfast food so I was ecstatic to see some chocolate muffins in the monthly muffin list. Not that I don’t consider cupcakes acceptable breakfast food, but I need to keep up appearances. The cupcake, I mean muffin, batter is chocolate with chocolate chips in it, hence the “double chocolate.” The muffin is moist with little pockets of gooey melted chocolate chips.

What takes these muffins over the top is the dulce de leche in the center. The recipe name says “Salted Caramel” because I wanted to stay true to the original Food Network wording, but what we really have here is some smooth and heavenly dulce de leche. Dulce de leche is sweetened milk that has been slowly cooked until it caramelizes. In my opinion it tastes much creamier than regular caramel sauce because of the milk. You can buy or make your own for this recipe. I made my own because I didn’t want to go to the store and I already had a can of sweetened condensed milk, which is all you need to make some!

The dulce de leche is dolloped right in the center of the half baked muffins. My muffins developed a little air pocket in the center, which was from some of the dulce de leche getting absorbed into the muffin after it was done baking aka making it super moist and decadent. I hope you enjoy these muffins for breakfast, dessert, and everything in between!

Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Muffins

 

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Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup thick dulce de leche
• Flaked sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate chips (leaving 3 chips aside) and stir to combine.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the milk and vegetable oil then whisk until smooth. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
4. Evenly pour the batter into the prepared paper liners. Each muffin cup should be filled ⅔ to the top. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges of the muffins have started to set, but the center of each muffin is still liquidy. Remove the muffin pan from the oven and working quickly, dollop 1 heaping teaspoon of dulce de leche into the center of each muffin. Return the pan to the oven. Continue to bake for 10-15 more minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean. Make sure to insert the toothpick into the muffin itself and not the dulce de leche.
5. As soon as the muffins are out of the oven, use a grater or microplane to grate the chocolate chips you set aside over the tops of the muffins. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with the flaked sea salt. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes then move the muffins to a cooling rack until completely cooled.

Notes

The batter is supposed to rise and bake over the dulce de leche. Some of my dulce de leche stayed on the top of my muffins because I probably let them cook too long before dolloping on the dulce de leche. They taste delicious either way so don’t worry too much about it.

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 Recipe from January/February 2018 issue of Food Network Magazine.

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Back when we were seniors in college Matt bought me a subscription to the Food Network Magazine for my birthday. We had only been dating a year and a half, but Matt was already well-versed in my food obsession. The first official Food Network Magazine issue had only come out a few months before my birthday in 2009 and I’ve been subscribed to the magazine ever since.

Every month when it comes in the mail I get so excited and quickly start scouring it from cover to cover; pointing out recipes to Matt and devouring all the latest food news. After going through it multiple times, I tear out all the recipes I want to make and add them to my growing recipe binder collection. The binders have page numbers and even a table of contents (remember, I like to organize and make lists 😉), but then they tend to just sit there. I always want to make something from them, but then I find a new recipe I want to try from a blog I read or a new cookbook or something on Pinterest and I rarely get back to the Food Network Magazine recipes that I just had to try.

So this year I have decided I am going to make an active effort to cook from the magazine. When the January issue showed up with a Muffin of the Month section I knew I had found out just where to start! I will be posting each month’s muffin at the start of each month for 2018. 2018 is the year of muffins! Who knew?

First up, January’s Pomegranate Orange Muffins. I love a good citrus muffin and these did not disappoint! They are moist on the inside, slightly crispy on the outside, and pack the perfect amount of clementine punch. Prettiness and the short prep time also give January’s muffins serious bonus points.

You don’t taste the pomegranate seeds that much since they are just pressed onto the top so feel free to substitute. Matt and I thought raspberries or blueberries would make a nice alternative; I will have to try one of those next time because I will definitely be making these muffins again!

Pomegranate Orange Muffins

 

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Yield: 18 muffins

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups sugar
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 clementines
• 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• ½ cup pomegranate seeds (or raspberries or blueberries)
• ½ cup powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 cupcake pans with 18 paper liners and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine then make a well in the middle of the flour mixture.
3. Wash 2 of the clementines then cut them into 8 pieces each, leaving the peel on. Blend the 2 cut clementines and the milk in a blender until smooth. Add the eggs and blend until incorporated.
4. Pour the egg mixture into the center of the flour mixture. Add the melted butter then mix until just combined. You want the batter to still be lumpy, but without any pockets or streaks of flour.
5. Scoop the batter evenly among the paper liners filling each cup about ¾ full. I found a cookie scoop to be the least messy way to divide the batter. Divide the pomegranate seeds (or raspberries or blueberries) and put some on the top of each. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out with no batter on it and the muffins are golden. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then move the muffins to a cooling rack until completely cooled.
6. Cut the remaining clementine in half. In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar and the juice from half the clementine. Stir until the glaze is thick, but drizzle-able, adding more juice from the other half of the clementine if needed. Drizzle the glaze on the muffins then let the glaze set for 10 minutes.

Notes

If you only have 1 cupcake pan, buy another! Just kidding, put 6 of the liners aside until the first 12 muffins bake and the pan cools.
The original recipe calls for aluminum-free baking powder stating aluminum may react with pomegranate and make the batter blue. I made sure to use aluminum-free baking powder, but I still had a little blue on my muffins around the edges of the pomegranate. I have not yet experimented with non-aluminum-free baking powder to see if the batter would have been even more blue-tinged, but just a word of caution!

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Recipe from January/February 2018 issue of Food Network Magazine.

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Boo! Look at these little monster cookie sandwiches! How cute are they? I’ve been wanting to make some special Halloween treats for a couple years now, but I haven’t made anything since these Witches’ Cauldron Cupcakes or these Leftover Halloween Candy Cookies. We always end up being away on my favorite month of the year – I guess that’s what happens when it’s your birthday month and your anniversary month!

Even though it seemed like we were away for most of October this year I was determined to finally make a new Halloween treat. I scoured Instagram and Pinterest trying to find a chocolate dessert that wasn’t shaped like a spider, but I had no luck. So after being inspired by the candy monster eyes I had in my baking drawer (doesn’t everyone have candy monster eyes in their baking drawer?) I came up with these cuties.

The best part is that they taste so good. Or maybe the worst part if you were hoping to not devour five of them and then not fit in your pants. That’s okay, go buy some leggings. Anyways, this is my first time making these sea salt dark chocolate cookies and it will definitely not be my last. I made them smaller so the cookies sandwiches wouldn’t be so big, but if you were making them just for cookie purposes you could double the size to two tablespoons of dough. The marshmallow filling has the right amount of sweetness and the creaminess balances nicely with the dark chocolate.

So go ahead and make these tasty monster cookie sandwiches – no special decorating skills required! And have a happy Halloween!

Also one recipe note that I want to point out in advance – the cookie dough needs to be made ahead of time. It has to chill for at least three hours so definitely plan ahead!

Chocolate Marshmallow Monster Cookie Sandwiches

 

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Yield: 12 cookie sandwiches

Ingredients

for the cookies

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup cocoa powder
• ⅓ cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
• Sea salt for sprinkling

for the filling

• 7 ounce jar marshmallow fluff, about 2 ½ cups
• ½ cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
• ⅓ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• Neon gel food colors
• Candy monster eyes

Directions

for the cookies

1. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, both kinds of cocoa powder, the baking soda and salt. Stir to combine and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, mix the butter on medium speed until smooth, about one minute. Add the sugar and mix on medium-high speed until combined and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix on high speed until combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
3. On low speed, carefully pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. On high speed mix in the milk until combined, then the chocolate chips. The dough will be very thick and sticky (and tasty!). Avoid eating it so you have batter to make cookies with and put it in the fridge, covered, to chill for at least 3 hours or up to 3 days.
4. When you’ve properly chilled the dough, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
5. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit for 20 minutes if it sat in the fridge for longer than 3 hours so it’s easier to scoop.
6. Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough (I used the Oxo medium cookie scoop) and roll into a ball. Place it on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the rest of the dough. I had 12 balls on each cookie sheet (maybe could have had more, but some dough got taste-tested). Sprinkle each cookie with a little bit of sea salt.
7. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack. Let cool completely. If not frosting right away, store in an airtight container at room temperature.

for the filling

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer, carefully combine the fluff, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt on high speed. Once fluffy divide into smaller bowls depending on how many different colors you want to use. Add the food coloring and mix until the desired color is reached.
2. Spread about a tablespoon of filling on a cookie then sandwich with another cookie. Continue until all cookies have been sandwiched. The filling is not very thick so do not put too much on or it will ooze out the sides. You could try thickening it with more powdered sugar, but I thought it would make it too sweet. Press monster eyes into the sides.

Notes

I prefer to use Ghirardelli chocolate chips, either their semi-sweet or their bittersweet.

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Welcome to part two of my ultimate foodie weekend in New York City! If you missed part one, check it out here.

Eataly

Say hello to this plate of homemade ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach basking in lemon butter with some chopped pistachios and freshly grated Parmesan. This dish from La Pizza & La Pasta at NYC’s original Eataly location was tender, well-balanced and so delicious. As a testament to how good this homemade ravioli was I finished before Matt, which says a lot since he’s usually done after I’m only four bites into my meal. The pastas on the menu are divided into two sections – dried pasta from Italy and homemade pastas made right there in the Eataly kitchen.

Pictured here is Nick’s ring shaped pasta with shrimp, mussels and scallops with a tomato, white wine, garlic and chili flake sauce. I didn’t get photos of Matt’s homemade meat-filled agnolotti served in a beef reduction or Sarah’s spaghetti cacio e pepe, which is a black pepper, Parmesan, Pecorino Romano and butter sauce, but I tried them both and they were excellent. Everything we had was a standout dish and our plates were definitely wiped clean at the end of the meal. We were there on a Sunday and as it slowly tipped into lunchtime around noon La Pizza & La Pasta got packed so try to sit a little earlier to avoid the lunch crowds.

Eataly is self-described as the “largest Italian marketplace in the world.” Eataly establishments can be found locally in New York City, Boston, and Chicago, internationally in cities ranging from Seoul to Istanbul and in seemingly every large city in Italy. Currently, an Eataly project is in the works in Los Angeles as well. The Eataly in the Prudential Center in Boston opened this winter and Matt and I have already been a couple times! We also visited and ate dinner at the Eataly in Rome in 2015 on our honeymoon, but although it was excellent, it was on a much smaller scale than the Eataly pictured here.

Look at all this amazing fresh pasta! Also, check out those whole black truffles on the bottom left of this picture!

Although fresh pasta is where it’s at, the rows and rows of dried pasta let me know I was in pure heaven. The marketplace is loaded with olive oils, fresh produce, meats, cheeses and every product you can think of to turn your kitchen into an Italian casa. The NYC Flatiron Eataly also has a great selection of microbrews, but they take it one step further. La Birreria, the all-season rooftop bar and restaurant that hosts different pop-up restaurants every season is actually a microbrewery! Don’t let the weather scare you away- La Birreria is equipped with a retractable roof and heaters.

The marketplace has fresh seafood counters…

…cool signs…

…and even wild New Zealand cockles!

There’s several other sit-down restaurants similar to La Pizza & La Pasta and each one has a menu centered around a type of food, whether that is seafood or charcuterie. Several counter service spots are sprinkled throughout the marketplace dishing up sandwiches, pizza and espresso. Nutella-heaven, aka the Nutella Bar, aka a cafe where everything has Nutella, is part of Eataly with its own separate entrance on Fifth Avenue as well. Their motto is Nutella goes with everything – preach!

Oh, did I forget to mention these amazing chocolate treats that were sold by the pound and I wanted all the pounds of them?

Of course it wouldn’t be an Italian marketplace without gelato! I didn’t have a chance to taste any as we were on our way to our next NYC foodie spot, but I will definitely be back.

Dough

Next on the list was Nick’s favorite NYC doughnut shop – Dough! They have a unique signature flavor selection, as well as plenty of rotating flavors. Dough boasts about each of their doughnuts having their own distinct personality and just from the flavor descriptions you can tell they mean it. I’m looking at you, matcha sugar, lemon meringue and gin & tonic! Their doughnuts are made in small batches throughout the day so feel free to sleep in and still get fresh doughnuts. Or order as an after-lunch dessert, or an afternoon pick-me-up, or a pre-dinner snack, or a post-dinner dessert… you get the idea.

This here is the toasted coconut doughnut and the lemon poppy doughnut. We decided to start basic and we were all deep in pasta comas to think about ordering more than two of these bad boys. If you haven’t been able to tell from the pictures, the Dough doughnuts are enormous! For scale reference, those are appetizer-sized paper plates. Dough also has a couple limited quantity items in addition to their yeast doughnuts- cake doughnuts and doughkas. Doughkas are their version of a doughnut-Babka hybrid; I am so crushed that I didn’t know this and order ahead so I could try one. If you’ve never had chocolate Babka, run, don’t even think about walking, to your favorite Jewish or Eastern European bakery (or even Trader Joe’s!) and buy one. Then eat it, of course. In a nutshell, it’s a yeast dough that’s twisted or swirled with cinnamon sugar and/or chocolate and somehow manages to be light, dense, sticky and chocolately all at once. Dough’s version uses their signature fluffy doughnut dough and they recommend calling one day ahead to reserve your order.

Both flavors were delicious, but what really stood out to me was the texture of the yeast doughnuts. Very slightly crispy on the outside while incredibly light and chewy on the inside. Their expanded interiors give way to lots of little air pockets that provide that delicate quality. It’s amazing that two yeast doughnuts can have such different textures since Doughnut Plant and Dough were both completely unique in their own delicious ways. I know Nick has his favorite, but I really can’t discern a winner until I have time to conduct more taste-testing of course.

Mad. Sq. Eats

Welcome to Mad. Sq. Eats! This bi-annual food gathering brings together the best dishes from New York City’s most delicious and trendy restaurants and food shops right in the center of the Flatiron District outside Madison Square Park. The vendors rotate every season and can be scoped out on the event website. Currently they are operating on a spring and fall schedule.

See those sandwiches in the back of this picture? Pulled pork sliders with doughnut buns from Jicama California Street Food. Yes, you read that correctly. Be prepared to find a smorgasbord of food trends, whether or not you’re adventurous enough to try them. All the food vendors at Mad. Sq. Eats display their food so it’s like browsing a restaurant’s Instagram feed before placing your order.

There was even a vendor serving up fruity sangria when we were there! Definitely take your time to walk around before hopping into a line so you don’t have serious FOMO – fear of missing out 😉 – when you’re super stuffed and spot something way at the end that you really want to try. The table space was tight, especially if you’re there with a group. If you’re unable to find a spot to sit fortunately Mad. Sq. Eats is right across from Madison Square Park, which has benches sprinkled throughout and is the perfect spot to munch your food finds.

I can’t remember which food vendor these spring rolls were from because there were a whole bunch offering them, but they were really good! Mad. Sq. Eats prides themselves on sourcing together the city’s best restaurants and top trending food spots so you can bet that everything is going to be top notch.

Ice & Vice

Now that is a sexy ice cream drip. This is a scoop of Shade ice cream – smoked dark chocolate with caramelized white chocolate ganache – from Ice & Vice in a birthday cake cone from The Konery. Ice & Vice is a self-described “experimental ice cream shop” and can be found in the Lower East Side as well as occasional kiosks and pop-ups throughout the city. Their flavors range from slightly adventurous, like the Shade flavor I had, to crazy interesting, like Opium Den – white sesame and toasted poppy seed with lemon bread crouton. One of Ice & Vice’s signature creations is the Detention Ice Cream Pie – malted vanilla ice cream with a marshmallow Fruity Pebbles crust and Fruity Pebble dust. Ask for your ice cream cone order to be topped with a slice of the ice cream pie for some serious #foodporn.

Rein’s Deli

Matt and I were barely halfway home and we were already missing all the outrageous NYC foodie finds. As one last hurrah, we turned into Rein’s Deli in Vernon, Connecticut for a perfect pastrami sandwich. Rein’s is an authentic New York style Jewish deli that has been open since 1972. The first time we ate at Rein’s the waitress recommended we get the pastrami on a buttered, pressed roll with melted cheese. It may not be traditional, but it is damn tasty.

I hope you get a chance to check out some of these epic New York City foodie spots! Make sure to comment and let me know what some of your favorites are – I would love to add them to my food bucket list!

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