I’m baaaaaaaaack!!! With more popcorn, of course.
Are you guys so super excited for the holidays? Today is the official start of our family festivities, and I could not be more excited! Now that school is over, gymnastics is over, and my husband is almost to his vacation time, it’s starting to really feel like the holidays.
You know what the holidays need? Popcorn. Obviously.
And a big, fat, awesome prize.
Yesterday I mentioned that I’m like the fudge-Cookie-Monster during the holidays. As in…. I eatallllllllllthefudge.
And I’m not ashamed, not even a little bit. Because, really… how often do people actually make fudge? Like, every day for a week in December and that’s pretty much it, right? So if you don’t scarf it all down in that one week, when else are you going to get your fudge fix throughout the rest of the year??
Never. That’s when.
Air-go: when you see fudge, eat all of it. Period.
I’m especially partial to fudge with marshmallows in it. When I was in college , I worked in the University Bookstore which was renowned for its incredible fudge. During finals, sometimes, the candy counter workers would slip us sample slices while we were studying at the registers in between customers.
My favorite (well… there was a three-way tie to be honest, but that aside…) was Heavenly Hash. It was full of almonds and this massive ribbon of marshmallow cream that went right through the center of the fudge block. It. was. incredible.
This recipe isn’t quite the same as that fudge (since I went the easy route and used actual marshmallows instead of marshmallow cream), but the flavors are all there and it’s still insanely good. And insanely easy! You could even make this in the microwave and quick set it in the freezer (as I’ll likely do once I’ve finished writing this post) if you’re needing a fix likerightnow.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!
Soft chocolate chip cookie bars bursting with peppermint flavor and bits of crushed candy canes are a festive way to celebrate the season.
Hi I’m Emily from It Bakes Me Happy and I am super excited to be a contributor here on Something Swanky! Today and in the coming year I will be sharing my love of brownies and bar desserts for your sweet satisfaction.
Since it’s December I wanted to shareย an easy and delicious treat you can add to your holiday line up and it’s perfect for gifting if you like giving the gift of baked goods. These soft chocolate chip cookie bars are packed with bits of crushed peppermint candy and topped with a drizzle of chocolate. Plusย they look way more fancy than the effort they require to make, so you’ll look like a pro when you serve them to family and friends.
This stuff is one of my very favorite Christmas treats! It’s completely and utterly addicting, which is why it’s earned the nickname Christmas Crack. Have you tried it?
It’s essentially toffee bathed crackers, slathered in chocolate and almonds. And for those of us who aren’t so great in the candy-making department, it’s an especially great recipes to keep handy, because it’s SO easy! And I think cracker toffee tastes even better than regular toffee. I like the cracker crunch and the extra bit of buttery saltiness.
I am so excited to finally debut this 5-part weekly series that I’m calling Party Popcorn Saturdays. I’ve been plotting this for weeks and weeks and just dying to share it with you guys!
Some of you may already know, but my cookbook Party Popcorn was just released this week!! So, to celebrate the release of the book and to say a big THANK YOU to all of you, my amazing readership, I’ve lined up 5 weeks of sharing some of my favorite recipes from the book with a coordinating giveaway at the end of the series.
Each week I’ll share a new recipe and a new giveaway item that I will be giving away at the series finale on January 13! 5 delicious popcorn recipes, 5 super-sweet prizes, and 5 signed copies of Party Popcorn. Are you ready to get started?!
I have to confess something… I’ve never been much of a gingerbread fan. I mean, it’s always been okaaaaaay. But I’ve just never understood why anyone would want to eat gingerbread when there are so many other incredible holiday treats to be had?! Like chocolate pie and peanut butter truffles and peppermint cheesecake!
I always just thought, Gingerbread? What’s the point?
That was until I tried this Gingerbread Cookie Bark. It’s changed everything.
You guys. I don’t even know how to begin this post. This is possibly one of the most surreal days of my life (in a good way)…
I wrote a book, and it is officially, as of today, ON SHELVES!!!!
2 years in the making, and it’s finally out there. For everyone to see. EVERYONE. Eeeeeeek!!!
So, basically, I’m dying. Coherent thoughts aren’t coming, and there’s a good chance this post will be all over the place. But stick with me. Even if I don’t make any sense, I promise I’ve got a worthwhile recipe for you at the end of all of this rambling.
We’ve had several chilly, rainy, dreary days recently, so my daughter and I decided it was time to officially begin hot chocolate season.
I already have a really fabulous homemade hot chocolate mix that I posted last year. It’s my mom’s recipe that I grew up drinking, and if you’ve haven’t made yourself a batch yet, I hope you’ll give it a try this year! It’s seriously amazing.
But… I just haven’t gotten around to making up our mix for this year yet. And we were needing hot chocolate rightnowRIGHTNOW. So I decided to take the stovetop route and loved the recipe so much, I just had to share!
I have a love/not-so-much relationship with pumpkin pie.
On the one hand, I love it. Well, at least I love the theory of it. I love pumpkin and pie and especially chilled pies that you top with whipped cream. And I love how utterly classic it is.
But occasionally, depending on the recipe, I find the texture to be somewhat…. gagging. For lack of a better word. Sorry about that.
Sometimes I feel like the innards of a pumpkin pie can be a little bit goopy… not my favorite. Anyone else?
Fortunately, there is an awesome solution to this problem…
A couple of weekends ago, I went to a photography retreat in Virginia. At this retreat we ate the most incredible and creative food I think I’ve ever eaten. All of it made by a 100% through-and-through self-taught home cook. Even though the retreat was all about immersing ourselves in photography, I found myself enjoying my time in the kitchen the most.
Some of my favorite moments from the weekend were spent on a bar stool peeking over the counter watching the cook, Matt, roll out pasta, stir ganache, craft beautiful grilled pizzas, and talk about his favorite homemade ice cream flavors. I hovered around the kitchen all weekend (driving him insane, I’m sure) asking questions about this recipe or that, listening to him talk about how he got into cooking such great food, and quizzing him on what sorts of unique flavors he’s been inspired to use in his recipes.
It was sort of like watching magic. You could tell by the way he handled the food that it was his craft, something he is really passionate about. And I found that to be incredibly inspiring. The more time I spent with him, the more inspired and excited to get back to my own kitchen I became.
Especially after Matt rocked my world with this biscuit recipe. (It’s worth noting here, that Matt isn’t claiming this recipe as his own creative genius. He highly recommends Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream Desserts
, which is this recipe’s original source). I probably spent the majority of my time at the retreat talking about these biscuits… just ask anyone. They were that good.
What’s so special about this recipe?? What makes them different from my own biscuit recipe (that I posted less than two months ago, mind you)?
Last week when I was perusing Food Network’s stockpile of chocolate chip cookie recipes (in search of this Alton Brown recipe), I stumbled upon this killer looking recipe from Bobby Flay.
I’m obsessed with Food Network (uh, and Bobby Flay in general). So I the idea of making these right on the heels of the Alton Brown recipe was too much fun to pass up. In case you’re not familiar with Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, here’s the gist of the show: Bobby picks out chefs who are renowned for a particular recipe, and he challenges them to a compete in a cook-off of their favorite dish (competing against him, of course).
This particular recipe is the one Bobby threw into the ring up against the famous NYC Levain Bakery’s chocolate chip cookie.
