Happy Valentine's Day & the last of sweets for 28 days........

This post is slightly belated, but the treats within are appropriate for any occassion. Just fun for Valentine's because they are red & white. The first treat for a Valentine's/Chinese New Year work lunch was a hit, and was quick, perfect to whip up during a busy week. I had this strawberry pretzel dessert a few years ago and knew the recipe was not hard, but never found it until my co-worker, Natalie, was making a family recipe book and it was just what I had been looking for. We had also received some cupcakes from a rep the day before our lunch so we saved them and I created some paper conversation hearts to jazz them up. The words are heard throughout our group on a regular basis. The reason this post is also titled 'the last of sweets for 28 days' is because, althought I have suffered from migraines for the last 15 years, the past two months have been unbearable, so I have started a restrictive diet that slowly adds back in 'trigger' foods, so that means no sugar for about a month. It will be tough, but definitely worth it if I can figure out what is causing my migraines. And who knows, maybe I'll get creative and come up with some tastey sweets using things that are not restricted like agave nectar and pure maple syrup.

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

Ingerdients:
2 Cups Crushed Pretzels
1 1/2 Sticks Melted Butter
2 Tablespoons Sugar
8 oz. Package Cream Cheese (I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1 Cup Sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip (I used light cool whip)
2 Small Packages Strawberry Jello
2 Ten oz. Packages Frozen Strawberries (I used 1 16oz package of fresh strawberries, sliced)


Crust
Mix crushed pretzels, butter, and 2 tablespoons sugar to form crust. Spread across the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Let cool.


Bottom Layer
Mix together cream cheese and sugar until smooth then fold in cool whip. Spread over pretzel crust and refrigerate.


Top Layer
Mix 2 cups boiling water with jello powder in a bowl. Refrigerate until somewhat gelled and then add strawberries. Pour over cream cheese layer and put in the freezer until set.

I spent the rest of my Valentine's weekend in Wisconsin with Gregory, Dino, and my Mom. Dino made us delicious dolmates for dinner and Gregory and I made red velvet cupcakes for dessert. For now, these are definitely in my top 3 favorite cupcakes along with the strawberry dream cream cupcakes and the snickerdoodle cupcakes I made last year. I really love red velvet when it's done right (it's like tiramisu, if it's not amazing, I can't even be bothered with it) so I did a lot of research and landed on the combination of red velvet cupcake recipe from Magnolia Bakery in NYC and the cream cheese frosting recipe from Sprinkles Cupcakes originally out of California.  The cupcakes are so light and airy but still have a great flavor, just enough cocoa to actually taste it, and then paired with the cream cheese frosting, they are just to die for! Like most frosting recipes it makes more than enough, so we also had a bonus dessert of cream cheese frosting on graham crackers.....brought Gregory and I right back to our youth, the frosting was usually from a can though.
Magnolia's Red Velvet Cupcakes
Ingredients:
3½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tbsp red food coloring (I used one whole tube of the red gel coloring and it was just enough)
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1½ tsp vanilla extract
1½ tsp salt
1½ cups buttermilk
1½ tsp cider vinegar
1½ tsp baking soda
1.Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour 2 cupcake pans (24 cupcakes), or use cupcake liners.

2.To make the batter: In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.


3.In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.


4.Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Arrange the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and bake the cupcakes, switching positions of the pans halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a rack before icing. To ice, mound about ¼ cup of frosting on top of each cupcake and use an icing spatula to make a swirl on top. If desired, decorate with colored sprinkles.


Sprinkles Frosting
  Ingredients:
12 ounces cold cream cheese

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, firm but not cold
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds (1 1/2 boxes) powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla

1.Combine butter, salt, and cream cheese in mixer and beat on medium speed 2-3 minutes.



2.Add sugar until just incorporated. Don’t over mix. It should be thick but not fluffy.


3.Add vanilla. If necessary, add milk to thin.

Chocolate Pretzels

I am now the proud owner of the Martha Stewart Cookie book and Martha Stewart Baking Handbook and simply cannot be baking enough these days. With my new kitchen aid mixer I am virtually unstoppable. I have quite a few baking supplies/ingredients left over from all of my holiday candy making so I have been narrowing down my choices by making things that don't require a trip to the grocery store......the snow and freezing temps have also ignited my baking drive a bit. I suppose another factor in my choices is the new year's inspiration to drop a few pounds, but a girl's got to eat and I just can't cut out sweets entirely.


My first recipe for the new year was Martha Stewart's Chocolate Pretzels from her cookie book. although they are shaped like pretzels they remind me much more of a biscuit or biscotti. They are not very sweet and taste best with coffee or tea. They turned out well, but not quite sweet enough for my taste. I much prefer a pretzel covered in chocolate. I could see myself making these again, but only in addition to a variety of other cookies and sweets in order to fill up a tray and add something that breaks up the really sweet things.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon good-quality instant espresso powder
3 tablespoons boiling water
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 large egg yolk
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling (I used some left over sugar sprinkles I had from my christmas sugar cookies)


1. Stir cocoa and espresso powders into the boiling water in a small bowl until dissolved; set aside. Meanwhile, put butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until creamy. Mix in vanilla and salt. Reduce speed to medium-low. Mix in egg, then cocoa mixture. Gradually add flour, and mix until a smooth dough forms. Turn out onto a piece of plastic; pat into a square. Wrap dough, and refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.


2. Divide dough into 24 equal pieces. Roll into balls. Shape balls into 12-inch-long ropes. Twist each rope into a pretzel shape. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.


3. Preheat oven to 325°. Whisk egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl. Brush cookies with egg wash; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until dry, about 35 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.

Sweet & Salty Cookie Bars

I have begun a fantastic ritual of taking some time every Sunday evening to peruse my favorite blogs and organize the recipes I find that I would like to make and also stock pile design ideas that one day I may be able to afford to bring to fruition. Organizing is right up there with baking as a favorite activity of mine, so you can imagine the perma-smile on my face for a couple of hours every Sunday. I was able to make these chocolate chip cookie pretzel bars fairly quickly after reading the post. About once a month some girls and I get together for a girls dinner at each other's places. Maria hosted last month and I offered to bring a dessert. I needed something quick, since work has been extremely busy lately. I had all the ingredients for these laying around and I figured the sweet & salty combo would be a hit. Like everything else I have tried to date from Two Peas and Their Pod, these were delicious. I personally was hoping the pretzels would retain a little more crunch (they weren't soggy, but had absorbed some moisture), but overall they were a wonderful treat. I think the next time I make these I may even add in some caramel for another punch of flavor, YUM!