Oatmeal Raisin Bars

I've been feeling pretty lousy lately, what with this really debilitating cold (and just when the weather has finally gone all summery!) and my voice is starting to go. (I suppose I should be grateful that it's been four days since I got sick and the laryngitis is only kicking in now.) Work is a bit slow so there really is no excuse not to take advantage of the time and post.
I turned to a Taste of Home for inspiration for the engagement party and this is one of two recipes that I made. I'm pretty sure that the only reason I made these homey cookies was because I had everything on hand. Otherwise, I'm not sure that I would have made these for a party. I'll let you in on a little secret, though. These were delicious. First of all, how can anything with an oatmeal crumble be anything less? But, despite their sour cream filling (I kind of have an aversion to dairy and anything overtly dairy tasting. I know, I'm weird) they won me over. The filling is creamy and doesnt taste too strongly of sour cream and the raisins get perfectly softened during the baking and some cinnamon binds everything together. These arent what I would envision if you said oatmeal raisin bars, but try them, I'm sure they'll win you over, too.

Cookie Dough Brownies

It's been a long time since I've updated this blog and truthfully, I've thought about neglecting it altogether. In the last couple of months, I've been released from the army, started a full time job and a part time job and overall just been too tired to keep it up. I can hardly remember the last time I baked something that was a dessert and not bread. Every time I think about getting back into the kitchen, my bed calls my name and almost always wins out. I will try to be better, or at least get all of the backed up posts written.
The last time I went all out in the kitchen was for an engagement party that I hosted for a friend of mine in the army who get engaged. I baked and baked and baked. And then made some more. It was actually really fun and the get together was really nice, even though there was a boatload of leftovers... Enough to feed an army (haha, not so funny!) and that's exactly where I sent them the next day. One of the things I made was these Cookie Dough Brownies from the Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook and they were really, really well received. These don't require much effort but they are multi- layered so that may put some people off. If you really know how to manage your time, you can always get your other cakes made in between steps. The key is organization, people! I would say that this is a successful cross of two very comforting and homey foods, brownies and cookie dough. Who could say no?!

Coconut Sandwich Cookies with Chocolate Ganache

Purim is not my favorite holiday and thankfully it passed as quickly as it came. (Anyone else feel like this year is just flying by?!) Part of the Purim festivities is the obligation to give mishloach manot to at least one person. This is where people invest most of their energies, after their costumes are all settled, of course. People spend hours choosing a theme and then buying the goods and assembling these packages. I can remember my parents buying cases of junk food just for this purpose and forming an assembly line around our dining room table to assemble the mishloach manot for our many family members and friends. Me? I always choose to go the homemade route. Include one or two baked goods, and you're good to go. This year, it took a long time for anything to evolve in my head, and even at the last second, I changed the theme again. These cookies were the product of a possible "black and white" theme. (It fell through.. I ended up making homemade smores and just adding two of these cookies in so as not to waste them.) The recipe comes from the Israeli book simply called Chocolate. I purchased it in one of my very first years here in Israel and haven't used it that much but I gather that will be changing. These cookies are delicious by themselves, flavored with desiccated coconut and ethereally light in texture due to the addition of cornstarch. Add a simple ganache filling and you've elevated these cookies to gift-giving heights. I'm almost certain the only change I made to the recipe itself was to add a dash of salt to the cookie dough. Easy, delicious and holiday friendly.

Reinhart's Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread

When the whole grain grain bug started acting up again, I knew immediately that a cinnamon raisin bread was in my future. I made a white flour version of this bread eons ago and I figured it was time to give this classic a healthier twist. It took me a while to get my act together and plan ahead but once I did, this recipe, also from Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads, was fairly simple to make. My bread wasn't a really high riser but I think I gave it less kneading time than I should have. This bread is yummy. I LOVE cinnamon with a passion so this was a no-brainer. Paired with homemade pumpkin butter, it is simply divine. 

Chocolate Velvet

Two weekends ago, I was hosted by my friend Nili in Jerusalem. She insisted that I bring nothing but as my father taught me, don't go anywhere empty handed. So I decided to make a cake. I settled on chocolate because it always pleases. I started leafing through my books and settled on this cake. It's an Israeli recipe and literally translated it means Chocolate Velvet. Turns out that's exactly what you get here. Nothing short of rich, chocolate fudge in every bite. The cake went over really well but because it is so rich, I went home with half. The solution? Bring it to my Ulpan students. I made them earn it though by making them first translate the recipe. It was quite amusing to listen to. They made short work of finishing the cake for me. I made this cake parve for Shabbat but you can make it dairy. I also used coffee liqueur instead of the chocolate called for. Feel free to use any flavor that you have on hand. To keep this cake fudgy and moist, the recipe instructs you to place a pan of boiling water in the oven along with the cake. This is a technique I'll adopt because you get the steam effect without risking seepage into the cake. Happy Purim!