Chewy Gingersnaps

The first 700 gingersnap recipes I tried were always rock hard by the next day. And that's gross. These stay soft and chewy forever and ever. 

Also, the recipe says to dip the cookie in white chocolate. I find white chocolate to be abhorrent, so I skip this step. Unless I'm giving them out, because people seem to like that stuff. And it's pretty. You can even sprinkle the white chocolate with silver sprinkles. People really go gaga over sprinkles. So do it if you want your neighbors to like you. 

4 tsp           baking soda

1 tsp           salt

2 tsp           ginger

1 tsp           cinnamon

1 tsp           cloves

1 ½ cups     butter

2 cups         brown sugar

½ cup         molasses

2                  eggs

4½ cups      sifted flour

Cream butter, sugar, molasses & eggs.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Blend with wet mixture. Scoop into balls and roll in sugar.  

Bake 10 minutes @ 350° (6 minutes convection).

Dip half the cookie into melted white chocolate.

Mint Brownies

BROWNIES:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

MINT LAYER:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon mint extract
• 2 drops green food coloring (optional)

CHOCOLATE GANACHE:

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 teaspoon mint extract

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch aluminum pan with nonstick cooking spray and cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan. Lightly grease the parchment paper. Set the pan aside.
2. For the brownies, in a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs and salt. Mix with a handheld mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture has lightened in color and is very thick. Fold in the warm (not hot!) chocolate/butter mixture. Stir in the flour and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing evenly.
3. Bake the brownies for 25-30 minutes until the sides pull away from the pan just slightly. Remove the brownies from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 1/2 hours)

1. For the mint layer, whisk together the powdered sugar, butter, milk, mint extract and food coloring (if using) until smooth and creamy. Spread evenly over the top of the cooled brownies. Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
2. For the ganache, heat the cream and butter until just barely simmering. Pour over the chocolate chips and stir until smooth and glossy. Stir in the mint extract. Spread the ganache evenly over the mint layer. Refrigerate for an hour or so until the chocolate layer has set.
3. Cut into squares and serve. These taste best chilled in my humble opinion.

One-bowl Brownies

My rating: 6 stars

Kids' rating: 6 stars

These are our favorite brownies. Which if you know me at all, know that's a real statement right there. They don't look anything special, so I rarely make them to take to a gathering. But if you're looking for a super rich, dense, deep, dark chocolate brownie to eat with ice cream, these are delish. And you can go from start, to bowl in hand, in 40 minutes. Not that I would know.

Makes 1 8×8 pan of brownies which you can cut into 16 2-inch squares, 25 smaller squares, or 32 2×1-inch bites, which would be cute for a shower or something. They are so flavorful that you could easily eat a 1x2-inch bite and be happy (not as happy as 2-inch squares, obviously, but happy nonetheless).

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Heat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment, extending it up two sides, or foil. Butter the parchment or foil or spray it with a nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate and butter in 3-second bursts, stirring in between each, until only a couple unmelted bits remain. Continue to stir until smooth and fully melted. Whisk in sugar, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and salt. Stir in flour with a spoon or flexible spatula and scrape batter into prepared pan, spread until even. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out batter-free.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

My rating: 4 stars

Kids' rating: 4 stars

Made with real chocolate (not that boxed cocoa that us chocolaticians look down upon), and a healthy helping of buttermilk, these babies are smooth as butter. And with 2 cups of zucchini in them, they're basically salad. My kids love these for an after school snack, breakfast, or lunch. 

2 1-oz squares unsweetened baking chocolate

3 eggs

1 1/2 c sugar

1 cup melted coconut oil

2 cups grated zucchini

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup buttermilk

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare cupcake pans with either cooking spray or cupcake liners. Melt chocolate in a bowl in the microwave until smooth, stirring often. Set aside to cool.

In mixer, combine eggs, sugar, oil, grated zucchini, vanilla, and chocolate; beat well. Stir in the flour, soda, salt and cinnamon. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pans. 

Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until toothpick comes out mostly clean.

I almost always double the recipe and freeze half. They freeze beautifully.

Chicken Tacos

We've been making this chicken for our tacos for some time, but this week, we really stepped up our game and added chopped mangos to the mix. It was the right decision.

Here's the chicken marinade recipe:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon lime juice

Mix together, and pour over 3 chicken breasts in ziploc bag and store in fridge for at least a few hours. You can grill this up, or I actually prefer it on the stove. Heat oil in frying pan to medium high. Add chicken and let it cook for 5ish minutes. Flip, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and let cook another 5-7 minutes, or until meat thermometer reads 160° (if you don't own a meat thermometer by this point, don't you dare admit that to me, because I TOLD you to buy one! And they're like 8 bucks on Amazon. I really like the Weber one. It's cheap and pretty accurate). Remove from heat and cover with foil and let sit for 5 or so minutes. 

Toppings that are delicious:

Chopped mango, drizzled with lime juice

Avocado, I like them mashed so they don't all slip out

Cilantro

Taco sauce

Tomatoes

Monterrey Jack Cheese 

This chicken also steals the show in a salad, with the above toppings, and corn, of course. Because is a salad without corn even a salad?

Frosted Brownies

Kids' rating: 5 stars

My rating: 4.5 stars

Brownie

2 cubes butter, melted

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 t vanilla

Add sugar to melted butter and beat until thick and creamy. Add eggs, one and a time, then vanilla and cocoa. Add flour and mix until just combined. Pour in a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350° for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting

1 cube butter, melted

2 c powdered sugar

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

Add all ingredients to melted butter and beat until smooth. Pour frosting over warm brownies.

I like them best warm, but they're good anyway you slice them. Literally. They're also really good to take to a family when you're bringing dinner. You can do a whole pan, but if you're selfish like me, you can bake it in two 9x9 pans (I'll do one in a throw-away pan for the other family) and take one and keep one.

Recipe adapted from Katie Nydegger, Hyde Park ward cookbook

Beef Stew

Kids' rating: 4 stars
My rating: 4 stars

This recipe is nothing revolutionary. It's beef stew. But I've gone back to our girl over at Carlsbad Caverns four times now for this recipe, so I figured I should just put it on here. 

As you know, I do mine in my dutch oven. Sear the meat, throw in the veggies for a minute, add the gravy, then throw the whole thing in the oven at 225° for 4-5 hours or so.

INGREDIENTS Beef Stew 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 pounds stew meat, beef chuck or sirloin, cut into bite size pieces 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 2 medium potates, cubed 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 4 stalks celery, sliced thick (1/4”-1/2”) 1 large onion, chopped 4-6 garlic cloves, minced 1 bay leaf Beef Gravy Broth 1 14 oz. can crushed tomatoes 1 10.5 oz. can beef consommé ** 1 15 oz. can low sodium beef broth 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons beef bouillon 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 1/2 tsp EACH ground cumin, paprika, dry oregano, dry thyme

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Chop meat into bite size pieces. While meat is still on the cutting board, toss it with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add half of the beef to the very hot skillet and let cook undisturbed for approximately 2 minutes, or until nicely seared on one side, then continue to cook while stirring until beef is browned all over but not cooked through. Remove beef to 6-quart (or larger) slow cooker. Repeat with remaining beef.
2. Add all of the vegetables and garlic to the slow cooker and toss with the beef.
3. Wipe out skillet and whisk in all of the Beef Gravy Broth ingredients. The flour will be lumpy at first but will dissolve as you cook and continue to whisk. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until thickened to the consistency of gravy. Add to slow cooker and toss to combine. Add bay leaf. The Gravy will be very thick but will thin to the perfect consistency as moisture is released from the vegetables as they cook.
4. Cook on HIGH for 4-6 hours or on LOW for 8-10 hours or until vegetables and beef are very tender. Discard bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

See those asterisks next to the beef consumme? There is no asterisk explanation center anywhere on her blog post. I know, because I try to find it every single time I make this. The first time I made it, I didn't have it on hand, so I searched for a replacement and couldn't find anything other than beef broth, which I knew couldn't be right, since she already calls for broth. Then I found something with tomato sauce, so that's what I used. One 8 ounce can of tomato sauce, with a little extra broth. I liked it so much, I made it that way the next few times I made it. Then, just because I'm a stickler for rules, I bought some beef consumme, and tried it the way she suggests. Honestly, it's sixes. But since I always have tomato sauce on hand, and never consumme, I'll probably go that route in the future.