Mint Chip Brookies

It really didn't take me long to at least decide on the flavor of Kevin's Christmas present. Kevin, our cousin Stefan, and I were talking at Thanksgiving and the topic eventually landed on my baking. One thing that Kevin gushed about was the Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars I made YEARS ago (I'm still kinda surprised he didn't talk about the bars with mint Oreos that I made a couple years ago for Father's Day, considering within a week he asked me to make him [and Helen?] a second batch that he paid me to do). So I decided to search for a mint recipe. Eventually I decided on Mint Brookies from Crazy for Crust - like when I made Kati's peanut butter brookies a couple years ago, this recipe allowed me to use a box mix for the brownie layer so I would be able to make it semi-quick during the week.

I thought they baked great until I went to cut them: the brownie layer was a bit gooey, especially in the middle. But apparently they were a hit with Kevin because he brought a bunch to Auntie Vicki and Uncle Rob's house on Christmas Day. Stefan even commented that the gooiness of the brownies made them better.

Coffee Chocolate Chip Biscotti

I feel like I've given biscotti to almost every family member who I give baked goods to as a gift. OK, so this is an exaggeration: there are still a few to check off the list. Specifically, the one person I hadn't yet made it for is the one I wanted to: Chiara. My September Girl. I felt almost obligated. So I decided that's what I would make for her for her birthday this year.

As for the flavor, I didn't want to do a fall flavor. I didn't want to repeat the ones I'd done before and wasn't sure if she liked maple. There is one other flavor that she loves: coffee. You know all those memes and mugs that say things like "I can't function until I've had at least 2 cups of coffee"? Yeah, that's Chiara.

I wasn't sure if it would be easy to find a coffee-flavored biscotti recipe. After all, it's a cookie that is often eaten with a cup of coffee. Starbucks even has individually wrapped biscotti at their cash registers. Still, I was able to find one on Food.com, a site that posts recipes submitted by readers.

Buttermilk Scones with Chocolate Chips

For my next Sunday morning breakfast I wanted to make scones. I had some butter and eggs that needed to be used as well (specifically the butter: I had half a stick, which is one of my pet peeves). So I searched Pinterest, my hard copies, and the internet for a good recipe, finally deciding on some peanut butter chocolate chip scones.

And then I forgot to buy the sour cream that's on the ingredient list. And I couldn't use/make any of the substitutions that I found.

So I searched for a chocolate chip scones recipe and decided on a buttermilk scones recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. While it didn't use the eggs that I had (which was OK because I worked overtime the following Saturday so I was able to make some cookie bars), it used up all the butter I had. Granted, this recipe called for cinnamon chips but it none of the other ingredients indicated that the scones would be affected by substituting chocolate chips. It also seemed pretty easy to make.

Condensed Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

I hate having leftover ingredients. With a few exceptions (mainly coconut), I try to use them up as soon as I can. Even if they can last a long time, like the leftover sweetened condensed milk I had from Auntie Paldina's coconut truffles. Coincidentally, I came across a cookie recipe on Pinterest that uses a small amount of sweetened condensed milk. It seemed very simple and easy. Also, it's egg-free and low in sugar since the milk makes up for that. The recipe is from A Pretty Life in the Suburbs.

Peanut Butter Brownies

Helen's present was another recipe I decided to make during the week. Since last year's Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge was successful, I decided to do the chocolate-peanut butter combo again this year. After doing lemon brownies for Anthony a couple years ago for his birthday, I decided to see if peanut butter brownies were a thing (also, brownies and bar cookies are easy to do in just a couple hours). Turns out, they are! The recipe I found in Taste of Home Best-Loved Cookies & Candies 2012 special issue even has chocolate chips in it, which I was gonna put in anyway.

Mascarpone Cannoli Cheesecake

As we occasionally do, we celebrated Kevin, Matteo, and Declan's birthdays all at once this year. Mom had Kevin's cake covered: a family friend volunteered to make him a Minions cake. For Matteo and Declan, I asked their moms for ideas. Cheesecake for Matteo, chocolate for Declan. Since our family is mainly Italian, I decided to make a cannoli cheesecake that I saw on one of Giada De Laurentiis's TV shows last fall (the decision may or may not have also been guided by the fact that Matteo will be spending some time in Italy this summer).

Madeleines

A few months ago I was at Bed, Bath, & Beyond to see if they have a broiling pan so I could make burgers at home (I've discovered that it's a good place to go before Amazon for stuff for my apartment that Safeway and Target don't have. Plus I get a coupon with my Good Housekeeping magazine that I like to use). As I usually do when I'm there, I started walking around the area of the kitchen section where the kitchen tools and baking pans are. I came across a pan for making madeleines - a.k.a. mini tea cakes. A madeleine pan is one of the few items left on my Amazon baking items wish list because I've always wanted to make them. So I decided to buy it with the plan to use up leftover chocolate chips from baking Christmas presents. I even found a recipe.

Except that plan never really came to fruition. I wanted to make them for me but never really had an opportunity (yes, I'm one of those bad people who has to have dessert after dinner. However, as I've said before, my hands are magnets to new/limited flavors of Oreos and I want to eat them before making cookies from scratch. This has yet to happen). And I was unsure about how they would be received at work. So the pan sat on my storage shelf, the label still on it. Until I found out we were having brunch for Mother's Day. Perfect! Madeleines seem like the kind of thing you serve at brunch as well as tea. So I pulled out the saved recipe - something simple that I could add chocolate chips to - and got to work.

Very Chocolate Chocolate Cookies

I'm not a fan of dark chocolate. It's just too bitter for me. I'll eat it when I have to but I try to avoid it. Anthony, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He loves dark chocolate. The darker the better, apparently (as in, 80% cacao or higher). Having recently learned this, I decided to make something dark chocolate for him for his birthday. When searching for a recipe I stuck with Nestle and Hershey's since they're synonymous with baking and chocolate (plus I had bittersweet chocolate chips that I'd bought with a coupon for this gift). I finally settled on Very Chocolate Chocolate Cookies from the Hershey's website.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Biscotti

It's that time of year! Time for me to wear out myself and my KitchenAid mixer in order to give the best gift I can think to give: baked goods. Picking recipes out is often hard because even when I have specific flavors to go off of, there are a lot of options in the form of cookies, brownies, etc. Still, I somehow find recipes for everyone.

Nonni's was a bit easy. I decided to make her something with coconut in it. I do have a few coconut recipes saved for her and Mom on Pinterest so I looked at those before deciding on Coconut Chocolate Chip Biscotti from Desserts Required.

Chocolate Chip Blondies

A couple weeks ago we had a dessert potluck at work. Because it was a bit last minute I decided to stick with brownies or bars: quick to bake, usually makes enough for lots of people. Rather than turn to Pinterest or the internet I turned to my cookbooks (with a limited amount of eggs and butter, it would be quicker to skim the recipes for what I had). I grabbed 500 Best Cookies, Bars, & Squares and started looking at the brownies and bars sections, eventually settling on Chocolate Chip Blondies since I had all the ingredients (or so I thought).