Th Reading Lair

Posts Tagged ‘dessert recipes’

  • A Recipe for White Chocolate Dipped Snickerdoodles

    Friday, February 1st, 2013

    Well preciouses,

    What better way to follow up last week’s squealy, romancy, fairytale photos (seriously — isn’t Sarah FABULOUS?) than with a food love post? Because, as you know, food and romancy things are synonymous with bliss in my world, and I’m thinking perhaps Valentine’s month is the perfect time to bequeath you with my very favoritest cookie ever: Snickerdoodles. (Which may or may not be considered The Edward Cullen of the cookie world – in the sense that, they’re all glittery and sparkly, but not everyone likes them.)

    Buuuuut these aren’t just any Snickerdoodles. These are chewy, melt-in-your-mouth, glorious White Chocolate Dipped Snickerdoodles.

    And I promise you’ll adore them. :0)

    chewy snickerdoodles recipe

    A Recipe for White Chocolate Dipped Snickerdoodles

    1. 1 cup butter (room temp)
    2. 1 & 1/3 cups sugar
    3. 2 eggs
    4. 3 cups flour
    5. 1 & 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
    6. 1 tsp baking soda
    7. Pinch of salt
    8. Cinnamon Sugar: 3 Tab sugar plus 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
    9. 12 oz. white chocolate (I use Almond Bark)

    Cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs until everything’s all fluffy and happy. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt, and mix til blended. Then roll into 1 inch balls and coat each in the cinnamon-sugar. Stand back and admire how pretty and sparkly they look before baking on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375 degrees. After about 10 minutes they should be all puffed up and crackly on top, but still pale. The key with these Snickerdoodles is to keep them moist and chewy by not over-baking them. Remove from the pan as soon as you pull them from the oven and allow to cool completely. Melt the white chocolate in a saucepan over low heat (or in the microwave like me, cuz I’m lazy), then dip each cookie halfway in the white chocolate before setting aside on parchment paper to cool and harden. You’ll probably want to store them in the freezer. Or……..you could be like me and shove them in your face until you look around and realize everyone’s staring at you because you’re not sharing.

    Your choice.

     chewy snickerdoodles recipe

    And speaking of sharing…how’s your week been?

    ;0)

    Tags: , , , , ,
    Posted in Reading Recipes, Twilight | 16 Comments »

  • Adventure Pics (Plus a Recipe for Disneyland’s White Chocolate Chip Raspberry Cookies)

    Wednesday, December 5th, 2012

    I’m BAAAAAAACK!

    So? What did I miss while I was gone? Any bookish / awkward / or otherwise nerdy news I need to know about? Oh c’mon, you know you’ve got some! You MUST dish! Pleeeeeeease????????

    And in return, I’ll bestow upon your lovely self a **reeeeeeeecipe** (she says in her sing-song voice). It’s a knock-off of THE Disneyland cookie. You know, the uber famous White Chocolate Raspberry Cookie. If you’ve not tried it, OH MY GOSH I swear I will make you some and bring them to your house and shove them at you and then watch and smile as you eat every last one. Because they’re that amazing. (In fact, I love them so much, Jay Asher once sent me a pic of himself purchasing one. Just to taunt me.)

    But firstly?

    I bore you with photos of my vacation.

    Because I can (she says with a small *mwahahahaha* chuckle).

    Here goes:
    First we got super sick.

    Ugh, right?

    NOT something we need a photo of.

    But then? Then we got better. And took long walks in the rain.

    walking path

    And jumped in lots of puddles.

    Rain boots photo

    Followed by a day trip to Disneyland.

    Where we flew a rocket ship.

    Disneyland's Buzz Lightyear

    Then we killed Zurg.

    Disneyland's Zurg

    Before being chased by bloodthirsty abominable snowmen through the Matterhorn.

    Mountains

    Followed by a whimsical visit to Sleeping Beauty’s castle…

    Which was obviously too whimsical for Wolverine, since he felt the need to sneak up and scare the blazes out of Middle Child.

    frighten and laugh

    And of course we had to visit Tarzan’s tree house! We wants to live in it, preciouses.

    Disneyland Tree Fort

    That’s where we saw the incoming pirate ship.

    Disneyland Pirate Ship

    After a harrowing escape We fought them off like ninja warriors and ran away like little girls and found our way to Main Street.

    Disneyland Christmas Lights

    Where we sat and watched the castle light up with magic.

    Castles

    While the fireworks ignited.

    Then?

    We *might’ve* kissed.

    Kissing photos

     Before coming home to sleep.

    And the next morning…

    We started the search for my favorite Disneyland cookie recipe. (Good gracious WHY I’ve not done this before I don’t know.)

    We found an AMAZING version!!!

    At MY BAKER LADY’S blog (clickety-click the link):

    Disneyland’s White Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Recipe

    Disneyland dessert, Baby shower cookies

    Yes. YUMMY.

    Disneyland desserts

    Quick word to the nerd: They’re best served cold. ;0)

    Now…

    Back to my original question.

    WHAT DID I MISS??? And how ARE you???

    Sleeping Beauty, The End

    ;0)

    Tags: , , , , , , ,
    Posted in Reading Recipes, Uncategorized | 13 Comments »

  • 7 Summerlicious Ice Cream Recipes

    Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

    Summer has officially arrived in California! She’s all pretty, and warm, and ripening the fields for morning berry picking and the afternoons for hanging out beside the pool. I like to stretch out on the hot cement and trace the airplane patterns overhead while the kids splash around in the cool water.

    And just when the heat becomes unbearable, the evening breezes kick in and you can watch from your Adirondack chair as the fog rolls over the hilltops while you pretend to read that book you’ve been meaning to get to for forever because it’s seriously supposed to be the “best summer read of the year.” And I really am meaning to get to that book. I swear. It’s just that I keep getting distracted by cravings for summerish things…like homemade ice cream.

    Which is why we made it last night, and why I googled a bazillion different recipes for future craving reference and made a list of the ones that looked the yummiest. You can take a peek and see what you think. Just clickety-click the blue links. And then come back and tell me which summer read you’re working on…

    **And if you’re currently in Colorado with all the wildfires raging, my heart goes out to you along with my prayers. If I could, I’d mail you ice cream. And a hug. And a giant force-field of safety.

    Here goes:

    1. Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream (via Former Chef)

    Strawberry ice cream evokes in me the mood for picnics on pretty sheets beneath oak trees, and reading books by L. M. Montgomery, Charlotte Bronte, and M. M. Kaye.

    •  

    2. Salted Caramel & Candied Bacon Ice Cream (via Spoon Fork Bacon)

    Bacon? This ice cream has Dorothy Sayers’ hero Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey written all over it. Knowing him, he’d eat it in the bath. With his tea. Like the old British hottie that he is.

    •  

    3. Thai Basil Vegan Ice Cream (via Conscious Kitchen)

    The perfect ice cream for indulging in Marissa Meyer’s fabulous sci-fi/dystopian novel “Cinder.” Or even a little Mrs. Pollifax from Dorothy Gilman. (Of course, one would need to wear an awesomely flamboyant old lady hat to round out the experience.)

    •  

    4. Guinness Ice Cream with Chocolate-Covered Pretzels (via Food & Wine)

    And this is the ice cream we made last night. (Note: There are no chocolate-covered pretzels in the pic because I ate them all. :0)) We changed the recipe slightly by adding a few extra ounces of Guinness (to use it up) and a touch of cinnamon (simply because I thought it’d blend flavors nicely, and it did). Obviously, the alcohol burns off, leaving a subtle malty flavor, which is mild and homey. Also, we used agave nectar in place of cane sugar. Later on, we tossed crumbled choc chip cookies on the leftovers. I think it’s similar to what I always imagined Harry Potter’s butterbeer tasting like (if it was more buttery and minus the cinnamon).

    6. Peach & Toasted Pecan Ice Cream (via Southern Living)

    Everything about this makes me want to reread Maggie Stiefvater’s “The Scorpio Races” (for the sweet simplicity of it). Or “The Help,” or “James and the Giant Peach,” or “The Secret Life of Bees.”

    •  

    And finally, from my friend Cathe’s blog:

    7. Vegan Chocolate-Chai Ice Cream (via Cathe’s Kitchen)

    •  

    So there you have it, preciouses! Don’t forget to leave a comment telling us what book you’re on, or supposed to be on, or wish you were on.  Happy warm summer reading and eating!!!

    ;0)

    Tags: , , , , ,
    Posted in Reading Recipes, Uncategorized | 15 Comments »

  • Which HUNGER GAMES Character Are You? (plus a crazy-good recipe)

    Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

    Tomorrow is HUNGER GAMESSSSSSSS!!! *toots horn and tosses glitter and cupcakes and baby unicorns around the room*

    Of course I’m going to stand in line for the midnight showing (tickets acquired, thank you my lovely Sarah Kathleen) with all the crazies. I was thinking of going as Haymitch since I’m old and sometimes grouchy when I’m up late, plus I like to throw things at people. Which means I’d be the awesomely fun person in line launching an arsenal of bread and meds at the Katniss look-a-likes. (Hmm…there’s possibility in this plan.)

    BUT…

    Alas, I cannot be Haymitch. I just took this HUNGER GAMES character quiz and, apparently, I am Cinna! (How very cool of me, I know. He was always my favorite. Even after he…you know—SPOILER CENSORED FOR THOSE WHO’VE NOT FINISHED THE SERIES—)

    So now I have to rethink my plans, because for as awesome as Cinna is, how does one “be him” in a movie line? Does one walk around fixing the braids of the Katniss look-a-likes and trying to rip off their leg hair and measure them for clothing sizes? Uh, no thanks. This…I will have to think on.

    In the meantime, I command you to rush over and take this quiz so we can see which HUNGER GAMES’ Character YOU ARE. Here’s the link:

    HUNGER GAMES CHARACTER QUIZ <—and no cheating

     

    As for the rest of you, Preciouses, I offer a pie recipe. An insanely good one that’s even better when you realize what’s in it. Or rather what’s NOT in it. It’s everything my kids (dairy-allergic) can eat, and what I (sugar-sensitive) prefer. The super sweet Vickie Motter introduced me to this amazing chocolaty pie (from Chocolate-Covered Katie’s healthy dessert blog), and now I have a slight addiction to it. (Read that as I have a serious addiction to it.) She also introduced me to this homemade, cane sugar-free, three-ingredient chocolate, which I used to make the pie (it gives a tasty coconut flavor). So if I need some sort of chocolate addiction intervention in the next few weeks, you’ll know who to blame. And while you’re at it, check out Vickie’s agenty blog space and book reviews. You’ll like her.

    No cane sugar. No dairy. No gluten if you prefer (which I don’t, so I made mine with crust :0)). But you’d never know it was missing any of those. I swear. Oh, and per Vickie’s suggestion—let the pie refrigerate for 12 hours for best flavor. I tried a slice around six hours and then after 12 just to see what she meant, and I completely agree. After 12, the tofu had absorbed the flavor all the way. Also, I added a bit more agave than the recipe calls for and used almond milk for the non-dairy milk. So…yeah. Have at it:

    THE ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE FUDGE PIE 

     

     ultimate chocolate pie photo

    Blend.

    •  

    pie crust photo

    Fill.

    •  

    ultimate chocolate pie

     Eat.

     

    :0)

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
    Posted in Games, Genre Savvy, Reading Recipes | 18 Comments »

  • A Recipe for SERIOUSLY AMAZING (Gluten-free, Cane Sugar-free) Choc Chip Cookies

    Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

    For as often as I post dessert recipes on here, you’d think I have a serious obsession with sweets. CONFESSION: This is only a baby bit true. I love sweets, yes, and even more, I love to bake. However…I love them in small, perfect-moment doses–like when we have company over, or the kids and I are playing tea party (or I’m scared out of my wits watching “The Walking Dead”).

    But MOST of the time? I prefer anything protein (nuts or tasty guacamole) rather than the nectar of the gods. I don’t know how it is for the rest of you, but cane sugar does *slightly* weird things to me (such as taking me from relaxed to anxiety-riddled in about ½ hour flat, if I’m not careful), so I’m pretty choosy how often I indulge. And when I can, I prefer to use Agave sweetener in teeny tiny amounts, which seems to absorb slower and, thus, doesn’t jack my emotions up like a hot air balloon in a lightning storm.

    Hence, I’ve been appreciating this standby recipe for Double Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies. It happens to be both gluten free and cane sugar free (except for the dark chocolate chips *guilty smirk*), and I’ve been making them every so often over the past few months when my kids want something sweet and I want something chocolate. I’ll even be taking them on my writing retreat this weekend. ;0)

    I dare you to try them. The almond flour adds an incredible nutty flavor, and the agave sweetener and grapeseed oil keep the cookies soft. Perfect for reading (or writing) away an afternoon with tea and your latest novel find.

    Speaking of which, what is your latest novel find? Will I like it? Do I need it? And how’d you like Jonathan Maberry (yay Wolverine!) on the blog last week? Spiffy guy, yes?

    photo for sugar free, gluten free chocolate chip cookies

    Click here for the goodness: A Recipe for (gluten-free) Double Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Oh, and did I mention I’m going on a writing retreat this weekend?!! With my Word DIVAS. Prepare yourself for photos (MWAHAHAHA!). And commentary (*who me?*)… Ahem.

     :0)

    •  

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
    Posted in Reading Recipes | 17 Comments »

  • A Recipe for Peanut Butter Honeycomb Pie (plus Pottermore pics)

    Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

    Ahem. So, this might’ve made me do a tippy tappy happy dance:    FIRST  GLIMPSES  INSIDE  POTTERMORE   Have you seen it??? They’ve definitely got some cool stuff going on there. I’m intrigued to try it out.

    Annnnnd this might’ve made me do an even AWESOMER tippy tappy happy dance:

    PEANUT BUTTER HONEYCOMB PIE

    I know, right? I grabbed the recipe from Bon Appétit (clickety-click on over for it), and it’s now the husband’s “officially most favorite food ever.” While the original recipe doesn’t call for meringue topping, I thought it would be an excellent balance for the the peanut butter pie’s salty richness; plus, it was a great way to use up the leftover egg whites. I’m glad we added it because, well, it totally rocked. In the future, the only other thing I’d change is to eliminate the addition of salt in both the crust and filling. The pie tasted fine with the extra salt, but since I use regular butter (vs unsalted like they call for) I could’ve left it out. Needless to say, Bon Appétit, I love thee. *sigh*

    Did I mention it’s AMAZING? Um, yeah. It is.

    So. How’s YOUR week going?

    What fabulous thing are you eating (or reading)?

    ;-)

    Tags: , , , , ,
    Posted in Reading Recipes | 14 Comments »

  • Masquerading as Chocolate Cake

    Thursday, November 11th, 2010

    masquerade mask

    I’m in the middle of getting ready for a masquerade party. It’s for my birthday (number 33 if you must know) as well as my sister’s (who’s quite a bit younger than 33, but I’m not bitter…or threatened…ahem), and we decided to throw a party in honor of ourselves. Humble of us, I know :). But, hey, if you promise enough food and music on the invitation, people say yes, so…

    Anyhow, all of this masquerade talk has put me in the mood for two things: (1) A rereading of Gaston Leroux’s “The Phantom of the Opera” for the bajillionth time because it’s amazing (as is the musical–good gracious, it’s incredible), and (2) making my favorite dessert of all time, which I WILL be taking to the party. Tried and true, this is the recipe I pull out when unexpected guests come over, or when guests unexpectedly demand dessert. Either way, it takes 10 minutes to make and 35 minutes to bake. And seriously? It’s the best recipe in the world for a flourless chocolate cake. Although, I’m not even sure why they bother to call it “cake,” seeing as it’s really just rich chocolate goodness masquerading as cake. So here you go, my lovelies. Serve it hot, or chilled, it makes no difference. It’s just that awesome.

    •  

    A Recipe for Flourless Chocolate Cake

    • 1 pound semisweet chocolate chips
    • 2 sticks butter
    • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
    • 7 large eggs
    • ¼ cup sugar
    1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of an 8 or 9-inch springform pan with wax paper. Spray the sides with cooking spray.
    2. Melt butter, vanilla, and chocolate in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring continuously until smooth. Cool for 15 minutes.
    3. Bring whole (not yet cracked) eggs to room temp by placing them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes. Remove.
    4. Use an electric mixer to beat the eggs and sugar until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Blend ½ cup of egg mixture into chocolate mixture. Fold in the rest.
    5. Pour batter into the prepared pan and place on a baking sheet in the oven. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out moist but not runny (the key is not to over-bake it). About 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes.
    6. Run knife around pan sides to loosen. Remove springform sides. Gently place platter upside-down over cake and flip cake onto platter. Remove pan base and wax paper.
    7. Serve warm or chilled with whipped cream.
    •  

    What’s the mood noise of the moment?  Nightwish

    :0)

    Tags: , , ,
    Posted in Best & Worst Books, Literary Classics, Reading Recipes | 11 Comments »

  • « Older Entries
  • Newer Entries »
HOME / BIO / READING LAIR / RECOMMENDS / CONTACT Copyright © 2011 M.Christine Weber. What have you read lately?