Baked's Candy Cookies

I heart Baked. I've never been to the actual bakery in NYC, but I've made a few of their recipes- their brownies and the chocolate cake with salted caramel. Apparently, I have yet to post either of these, since I just searched for them and they're not up.
A couple weeks ago, they posted a link on Facebook for these Candy Cookies- candy bars inside chocolate-dipped chocolate shortbread cookies. Yum, right? I decided to make them for our friends for the holidays. I used Mounds candy bars for the centers, and double dipped the cookies in white and milk chocolate.

Then I finished them with a drizzle of red candy coating for a festive touch.

These little cookies are AMAZING! You have to dip them in chocolate, otherwise they're dry and not that flavorful. They were a huge hit with our friends, and our family! Make them! And then make another batch because you ate all of them!

Candy Cookies

Recipe by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

INGREDIENTS

1. 2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
3. 1/2 cup sugar
4. 1/8 teaspoon salt
5. 1 stick plus 6 tablespoons (7 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
6. 1 large egg yolk
7. 40 mini peanut butter cups and or 20 fun-size Mounds bars, cut in half
8. 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
9. 4 ounces white chocolate, chopped
10. Sprinkles, dragees or nonpareils, for garnish

11. DIRECTIONS

    1. Preheat the oven to 350° and line 2 large baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk the flour with the cocoa powder, sugar and salt.
    2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Beat in the egg yolk. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until incorporated. Pat the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
    3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough a scant 1/4 inch thick. Using a 2 1/4-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out as many rounds as possible. Reroll the scraps and stamp out more rounds. You should have about 40 rounds. Set a peanut butter cup or halved mounds bar in the center of each round and roll the dough around the candy, pinching any tears. Roll the cookies into balls and arrange on the prepared baking sheets, 1 inch apart.
    4. Bake in the cookies on the upper and middle racks of the oven for about 16 minutes, until the dough is firm and just slightly browned; shift the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets.
    5. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the bittersweet chocolate on high power in 30-second bursts until nearly melted. Remove from the microwave and stir until melted. Repeat with the white chocolate in another microwave-safe bowl. Dip the tops of the cookies in the melted chocolate and decorate with sprinkles, dragees and nonpareils. Transfer the cookies to a parchment paper—lined baking sheet and refrigerate until the chocolate is set, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a platter and serve.

TWD- Devilish Shortcakes

How was everyone's Thanksgiving? I feel so out of the loop because were visiting my parents, who just moved into a new house and have no Internet yet. What's that about? I felt like my right hand was missing.
I have made this week's TWD recipes for Devilish Shortcakes, but apparently I haven't taken pictures of it. These are a wonderful alternative to regular shortcake- I love it with macerated mixed berries. I have a tendency to overbake these, which makes them very dry. I usually err on the side of caution and underbake them a tiny bit. Head here for the recipe.

CS- Cinnamon Pudding Cake

This cake is AMAZING. I made it twice in three days because my family and friends loved it so much. It's super easy and tastes delicious. It is a cinnamon cake with a caramel-type topping (more caramel than pudding). You pour the topping over the top of the unbaked batter and magically, it ends up on the bottom.

When you turn it out, this gooey, buttery, caramel sauce tops the warm, spicy moist cake. Make it. Now.

November’s Cake: Cinnamon Pudding Cake

Makes one 8 inch square pudding cake
(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)
For the Caramel Topping
1 cup plus 2 tbsp packed light brown sugar
¾ cup water
1 tbsp unsalted butter
½ tsp salt

For the Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method – Topping
Heat the oven to 350F. Spray the bottom and sides of an 8 inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Combine the brown sugar, water, butter and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking occasionally, then set aside to cool.

Method – Cake
Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sakt in a medium mixing bowl.
Combine the butter and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
With the mixer on medium-low speed, add a third of the flour mixture to the bowl. Add half of the milk and the vanilla. Add another third of the flour, followed by the remaining milk and the rest of the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.
Scrape the batter onto the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Pour the topping over the batter (the pan will be very full). Carefully transfer the pan to the oven and bake until set, 20-30 minutes.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, invert it onto a large rimmed serving platter and serve warm.
Let any leftover cake cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day or in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Harry Potter Sorting Hat cake

For an 18th birthday. Covered in fondant, decorations are fondant/gumpaste, house shields are edible images.

TWD- Not-Just-for Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake

 Do you like cranberries? They, it seems to me, are conflicted. They can be yummy- dried is pretty much the only way I like them. Doused with sugar and canned is the only way most other people I know like them. But this week's TWD was a great new twist to the fickle fruit. Dorie's Cranberry Shortbread Cake is a layer of cranberry jam sandwiched in shortbread. 
The cranberry jam was quick- orange and cranberry cooked with sugar and water:

The recipe says to cook the jam for about 5 minutes- mine took closer to 12.

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this- it says "shortbread" but it also says "cake." Which is it? I'm going to say it was really more like shortbread cookies with a layer of jam between.

My kids loved this- they ate it for dessert Sunday night, and then one of them wanted it for breakfast the next morning. I think next time I would leave out the orange zest- the orange flavor almost overpowered the cranberries. Or, skip the cranberries altogether and make with raspberries! Yum!
The recipe will be here.

TWD- Peanuttiest Blondies

After this cake last weekend, I wasn't much in the mood for running to the store for the things I didn't have for this recipe- non-natural (unnatural?) peanut butter and peanuts. Dorie says not to use natural peanut butter, but I did and it was really good. These blondies are great- the texture reminded more of a bar cookie than blondies/brownies, though. And my baking time was about half of what the recipe calls for. I loved the addition of cinnamon in these!

Bakeologie had the recipe!

Happy Halloween- Haunted House cake

Inspired by this cake