Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Valentine's Day really snuck up on me this year, it wasn't even on my radar until yesterday. Between having been away for the beginning of the month, and then getting sick, it just wasn't a priority. That said, I happen to think it's a fun holiday and we will be celebrating here. There won't be lavish gifts or an expensive meal out, it's definitely more low key than that for us. We'll cook a fancier-than-usual meal at home and then afterward probably settle in front of the tv to catch up on our favorite shows on the DVR. With candy, of course - Valentine's Day has some of the best candy (pass the Reese's hearts, please)!

If you're cooking at home too, and looking for a dessert idea, look no further. You simply can't go wrong with the combination of brownies and cheesecake. The brownie layer here is almost a cross between red velvet cake and traditional brownies - there's more chocolate flavor than you'd expect from red velvet, but not as much as most brownies. I was definitely a fan. The brownies are really fudgy in texture, and of course they're the perfect color for Valentine's Day. On top is a layer of creamy cheesecake, which is swirled into the brownies for effect. I did find the swirling a tad tricky because the brownie batter was much heavier than the cheesecake batter, but at the end of the day, not a big deal. Make sure you chill these well before attempting to cut them if you want neat edges - I was impatient at first and wound up with a lot of scraps to eat :)

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
from Baking Bites

Brownies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 oz bittersweet (or semisweet) chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons red food coloring
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cheesecake
8 oz cream cheese (1 package), at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on opposing sides to lift the brownies out afterward. Spray the foil/pan with nonstick cooking spray.

To make the brownies: Add the butter and chocolate to a small heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until the mixture is melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. Whisk the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and red food coloring together in a medium bowl. Add the chocolate/butter mixture and whisk until well combined. You can adjust the color here - if you want a more vibrant red, add up to an additional 1/2 teaspoon food coloring. Sprinkle the flour and salt onto the batter and fold with a rubber spatula until just barely combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then spread in an even layer.

To make the cheesecake layer: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Drop dollops of the cheesecake batter onto the brownie batter then swirl the two gently with the tip of a butter knife.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean (the edges of the cheesecake will brown slightly). Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the brownies cool to room temperature then chill them thoroughly in the refrigeratore before slicing into squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

It's been an eventful few days at our house, and not in a good way. Monday night Shane and I both came down with the dreaded 24-hour stomach bug. I can't remember the last time either of us was so sick, and to be frank, it stunk. There was no way either of us could get to the store to pick up Gatorade, ginger ale, or any of the other remedies we craved, so we picked up the phone and called my mom who came to the rescue with those things, plus some bland foods to get us on the road to recovery. After spending the entire day in bed yesterday, we're both finally starting to feel human again today, thankfully. Now I just need to disinfect every surface of this house, and hope it's the last we'll see of this bug for a long time!



Had I been feeling up to it, I would have shared this soup with you yesterday (and yes, the secret is out, I don't write/schedule blog posts in advance :) ) Tomato soup and grilled cheese is one of my go-to comfort food meals in the winter, and I've been eager to try this recipe for quite a while. As you've probably already gathered from the title, there isn't any cream in this soup - instead, the recipe calls for sandwich bread. The bread thickens the soup and gives it a smooth, creamy texture. The ingredient list is short, and really allows the flavor of the tomatoes to shine. A full recipe makes enough to serve 6-8 people so you'll likely have leftovers, and they reheat perfectly for a quick and easy lunch or dinner another day.

I never eat tomato soup without grilled cheese, and I'd seen the idea for these grilled cheese croutons floating around over the past year. It's basically just a grilled cheese sandwich cut into tiny squares, but they sure do look good in the soup :) I toasted my bread before making the grilled cheese, hoping it would be a bit more sturdy. The "croutons" did still get soggy if they sat in the soup too long, so I found it best to add just a few at a time. I really enjoyed the way they soaked up the flavor of the soup. I could easily eat this every day over the course of a long winter!



Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup
from Cook's Illustrated

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced (about 1 cup)
3 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
pinch red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
2 (28-oz) cans whole tomatoes packed in juice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 large slices good-quality sandwich bread, crusts removed, torn into 1-inch pieces
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper flakes and bay leaf. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Mix in the tomatoes and their juice. Using a potato masher, mash the tomatoes to break them down into smaller pieces (no bigger than 2 inches). Stir in the sugar and bread then bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bread is completely saturated and starts to break down, about 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.

Turn off the heat under the pot, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and puree the soup with an immersion blender (or, if you don't have one, in a traditional blender - you'll probably want to do it in 2 or 3 batches. Split the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over the batches as you puree.) You can strain the soup through a fine-mesh strainer if you want a perfectly smooth consistency. Stir the chicken broth into the soup and return the soup to a boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with the chives when serving.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

If you're anything like me, you might have gathered with some friends last night to watch the big game while munching on 3 or 4 different dips, nachos, pulled pork, and brownies. Stuffed doesn't even begin to describe it. Maybe you woke up today craving something lighter, something healthy, even. As for me? Sorry, but I'm not quite ready to turn the page yet. Instead, I'm nursing my disappointment over the Pats loss with some ice cream. All that build-up, all the hype, and another heart-breaking loss. Besides, it's Monday, which is always sort of rough anyway so this day definitely calls for ice cream. Healthy can wait for Tuesday.



This is definitely one of the more unusual ice cream flavors I've made at home, and I was admittedly skeptical. Butter in ice cream? My grandparents loved butter pecan ice cream so it was often in their freezer when I was growing up, but I was never a fan. I don't know if my palate has changed, or if this ice cream just doesn't bear any resemblance to the one I remember, but I really enjoyed it. The nutty quality of the brown butter that I love so much is definitely prominent, and the texture is perfectly creamy. Originally, the recipe called for toasted pecans, which would have given this a nice salty-sweet contrast, but since I'm not a fan of them, I substituted chocolate chunks. The chocolate worked nicely too, so if I made this again for someone who did like pecans, I might be tempted to include both. Either way, it's pure comfort food, which is exactly what I need today :)

Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
barely adapted from Dam Good Sweet by David Guas and Raquel Pelzel

9 tablespoons (1 stick + 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
8 large egg yolks
pinch salt
3/4 cup chocolate chunks (or chips)

Add the butter to a medium saucepan set over medium-low heat. The butter will melt then begin to bubble and foam. Continue cooking, whisking frequently, until the butter starts to brown and smell nutty - be patient and watch carefully, it can go from brown to burned quickly. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.

Add the half-and-half and sugar to a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a boil then turn off the heat. Add the eggs and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (you could use a hand mixer too) and begin beating on medium-high speed. Slowly drizzle the cooled, browned butter into the mixer bowl - the eggs and butter will thicken as you combine them. With the mixer on low, slowly add the hot milk mixture to the bowl, just a little at a time. Continue until it's completely combined.

Strain the ice cream base through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled (overnight is good, but at least 4 hours). Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. In the last minute of churning, add the chocolate chunks. Transfer to airtight container and store in your freezer.

Makes about 1 quart

Nutella Ravioli

Happy World Nutella Day! World Nutella Day is the brainchild of Sara of Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso, and this is my second year participating in the celebration - luckily I saw some tweets this week leading up to it so I didn't miss out. As I mentioned last year, I only discovered Nutella in the past few years, but better late than never, right? If you've never heard of it, it's a sweet spread (sort of peanut butter-like in consistency) made from hazelnuts and cocoa. I don't even like nuts, and I find it utterly delicious. I use it mostly for baking, but it's really versatile and can be utilized in other ways, or even just eaten straight from the jar with a spoon :)



I was so wrapped up in Super Bowl snack recipes this week that I didn't have much time to whip up a treat for today. Fortunately, I remembered this Nutella ravioli I've had bookmarked for ages. Aside from the fact that it involves frying, it's pretty much the easiest recipe ever. You take wonton wrappers (I had leftovers from the crab rangoon), fill them with Nutella and fry them for about a minute each until they're golden brown. The Nutella filling becomes warm and gooey, the perfect contrast to the crispy wonton wrapper - these were so good! I didn't have any problems with the wrappers opening up or exploding in the oil either. You can even make these a day ahead of time so if you want to serve them at a party, you don't have to be standing over the stove frying at the last minute.  These were just as good as the Nutella marshmallow turnovers I made last year, so if you're looking for a Nutella treat, you can't go wrong with either.



Today is not just World Nutella Day, it's also Super Bowl Sunday!! I can't even begin to describe how excited and nervous I am - it's going to be the longest wait ever for kickoff at 6:29 tonight. Whatever happens, I know we'll have fun with our friends and there will be an abundance of good food :) Go Pats!!

Nutella Ravioli
barely adapted from Giada de Laurentiis (via Food Network)

16 wonton wrappers
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup Nutella
vegetable oil, for frying
confectioners' sugar, to garnish

Line a large baking sheet with parchment. Working with a few wonton wrappers at a time, place them on your work surface and brush all of the edges lightly with the egg wash. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of Nutella in the center of the wrapper, then fold in half diagonally, pressing the edges to seal completely. Place the ravioli on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat this process to fill the remaining wrappers.

Preheat the oven to 200 F. Add enough oil to a large sauce pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat until the oil registers 350 F on a candy thermometer.

Two at a time, carefully add the ravioli to the hot oil and cook until golden brown, about 45-60 seconds, flipping them halfway through. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the ravioli to a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess oil briefly then move them to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you fry the remaining ravioli. Dust the ravioli with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

(Note: The ravioli can be made up to 1 day ahead. After frying, cool completely then cover and refrigerate overnight. Reheat in a 375 F oven for about 7 minutes before serving.)

Buffalo Chicken Bites

One of my favorite memories from the very early days of my relationship with Shane involves buffalo chicken wings. We were out at a local restaurant (we ate out A LOT those days) and we'd ordered wings as an appetizer. They weren't boneless, which as you've probably experienced, means they were super messy. I think I was nervously picking at mine, trying to exercise some restraint so I wouldn't completely embarrass myself. A few minutes after the wings arrived, I looked over at Shane and he had orange buffalo sauce ALL over his face. I couldn't help but crack up; he was so oblivious - just his usual happy-go-lucky self, and it immediately put me at ease. We still laugh at that experience 8+ years later :)



If I eat buffalo wings these days, they're always boneless, but more often than not, I prefer to take the same flavors and turn them into something else, so I couldn't not try these buffalo chicken bites when I saw them. Especially with the Super Bowl looming - these are perfect for the big game (or for dinner, but we won't talk about that...).

The recipe calls for making your own dough to wrap the buffalo chicken mixture, but if you're not up for that, you could definitely use store-bought pizza dough. These can even be made ahead of time. I baked mine in the afternoon, and then reheated them in a 350 degree oven several hours later for just about 5 minutes and they were good as new! You'll see I used all cheddar cheese in my bites because blue cheese just isn't my thing, but if you like it, feel free to use it.



Happy Friday :) Hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl ideas this week. I'll see you on Sunday for World Nutella Day!

Buffalo Chicken Bites
barely adapted from What's Cookin' Chicago? (who adapted from Gourmet)

1 cup shredded chicken
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup hot sauce
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 cup warm milk (about 110 F, I used 1%))
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1/4 teaspoon salt

To make the buffalo chicken mixture: Combine the chicken, cheese, hot sauce and butter in a medium bowl. Stir to combine. The mixture may seem too wet, but the chicken will absorb some of the sauce.

To make the dough: Combine the warm milk and brown sugar in a measuring cup, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the flour, yeast and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low briefly just to combine. With the mixer on low, gradually pour the milk/sugar mixture into the mixer and beat until a rough dough forms. Switch from the paddle attachment to the dough hook. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until it is smooth and elastic. You want the dough to clear the sides of the bowl as it kneads - if it's not, add a tablespoon of flour at a time until it does. The dough should be tacky, but not sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a ball. Spray a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray and add the ball of dough, turning to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 90 minutes. You can tell if the dough has doubled by sticking your finger in and making an impression. If the impression remains, you are ready to move on, but if it springs back, the dough hasn't risen enough.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough into a 12-inch rope. Use your fingers to flatten the dough into a rectangular shape, then use a rolling pin to roll to a roughly 12x4-inch rectangle. Add 1/4 of the buffalo chicken mixture to the lower third of the rectangle (make sure to leave a border along the bottom). Stretch the bottom edge of the dough up and over the filling, pressing to seal. Starting at the bottom, roll up the dough as tightly as possible. Cut the log into 12 even pieces and transfer them to the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough and chicken mixture. Let the bites rise at room temperature (uncovered) for about 20-30 minutes - the dough will rise slightly.

Bake the bites for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack , and if desired, brush the tops with melted butter before serving.

(Note: You can make the bites a few hours ahead of time. Just reheat them in a 350 F oven for about 5 minutes when you're ready to serve.)

Spinach Gruyere Puff Pastry Pinwheels

As hard as I've tried to like a variety of greens, many of them are too bitter for my tastes, so spinach is one of my few go-tos. It works out well, since it's also a key ingredient in one of my favorite appetizers of all time - spinach-artichoke dip (which, it turns out, is also good stuffed in mushrooms). For some reason, I haven't discovered a great homemade spinach-artichoke dip so I'm not sharing one this week but maybe by next year's Super Bowl I'll have one for you :)

I still wanted to make something with spinach for this week, and I had a few goals in mind as I set out do so. First, it had to be quick and easy. I always try to plan my menu with a few simple things to balance out some of the more time-consuming items. Also, there needed to be cheese - everything is better with cheese, including spinach. I opened my fridge and discovered a block of Gruyere that really needed to be used, plus I knew I had some puff pastry in my freezer, so that's where this idea started to take shape.



This appetizer really is as simple as mixing together some spinach and cheese, then rolling it up in a sheet of puff pastry. Gotta love that, right? Not only are these pinwheels a cinch to put together, they're completely addictive! The buttery puff pastry, the nutty, melty Gruyere cheese, and of course the spinach are so good in combination. The pinwheels are great warm from the oven, but they are equally delicious at room temperature. If Gruyere isn't your thing, just substitute your favorite cheese - these are super adaptable. I bet these would also be great with pepperoni in place of the spinach and maybe mozzarella cheese instead of Gruyere. That's definitely the version Shane would be rooting for :)

(Just an FYI - I used puff pastry from Trader Joe's here, and since their sheets tend to be a bit smaller than many store-bought brands, I had a little bit of leftover filling. If you use the bigger sheets from Pepperidge Farm, you can probably roll them out slightly larger and add all of the filling.)



I'm not going to put together a separate round-up post of Super Bowl recipes, but there are some old favorites from the archives that I don't want you to miss. Any of these recipes would be great additions to your menu! Enjoy :)


Soft Pretzel Bites

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes


Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos

Hot Buttered Pretzels

Baked Tortilla Chips


Cookies and Cream Mini Cheesecakes

Slow Cooker Sticky Wings

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie


Slow Cooker Tequila Lime Chili

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Jalapeno Popper Dip


Roasted Onion and Bacon Dip

Peanut Butter Cup Truffle Brownies

Cheez-It-Ish Crackers

Spinach Gruyere Puff Pastry Pinwheels
adapted from Pepperidge Farm

1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Wrap the spinach in a towel or paper towels and squeeze out as much excess moisture as you can. If you don't, the puff pastry may end up soggy.

Combine the spinach, both cheese, the salt and pepper, and garlic powder in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, beat the egg and water together.

Place the sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Roll it into a roughly 12x12-inch square, lifting and turning as you go to ensure it's not sticking. Brush a thin layer of the egg wash over the surface of the puff pastry, then spread the spinach/cheese mixture in an even layer.

Roll the puff pastry like a jelly roll and pinch to seal at the seam. Cut the roll into approximately 20 1/2-inch slices and place on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops of each lightly with the egg wash.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the pinwheels are golden brown.

Sweet and Salty Brownies

I feel like Super Bowl menus tend to focus mainly on appetizers and dips, and I am completely on board with that. At no other time of year can you find such a great collection of finger food recipes, and I think I have enough of them bookmarked to keep me busy for years to come. I'm one of those people who can never make a decision about what entree to order at a restaurant (because so many look so good!) so I love that when you make appetizers, you don't have to limit yourself to just one choice. Sample a little of this, and a bit of that - the variety makes me a happy camper :)

All that said, I really like to have at least one dessert option on my menu. It doesn't have to be fancy or time consuming - in fact, I happen to think brownies made from a box mix can be pretty awesome. (Shane's mom makes them around the holidays sometimes and I'm always excited to see them!) Anyway, the point is, I just need a little something sweet to balance the abundance of savory on the menu for the big game.



These sweet and salty brownies definitely fit the bill. I tried them for the first time over a year ago at a friend's house and enjoyed them so much I resolved to make a batch when I got home. And then of course, I forgot. But, I am glad to have finally gotten back around to this recipe, and luckily, it was just as good as I remembered. This is a super rich, dense and fudgy brownie with a layer of salty caramel sauce baked into the middle. Unlike these caramel brownies I made last year, the caramel here isn't a distinct layer - it sort of bakes right into the brownies and becomes indistinguishable in the final product. The flavor, however, does not. The sweet and salty notes of the caramel sauce work so well with the dark chocolate brownies. When they emerge from the oven, the brownies are sprinkled with fleur de sel and coarse sugar to drive home and the sweet and salty combo.

True, these are more work than boxed brownies, but they're 100% worth it. They're awesome eaten as is, but if you really want to wow people, top them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some of the leftover caramel sauce (the recipe makes more caramel than you need for the brownies). Dessert doesn't get much better than that.

Sweet and Salty Brownies
from Baked Explorations

Caramel
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon fleur de sel
1/4 cup sour cream

Brownies
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
11 oz bittersweet (or semisweet) chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into smaller pieces
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons fleur de sel
1 teaspoon coarse sugar

To make the caramel: Add the sugar, corn syrup and water to a medium saucepan and stir gently to combine. Set the pan over medium-high heat and cook until the mixture registers 350 F on a candy thermometer (if you don't have a thermometer cook until the mixture is amber in color). Turn off the heat under the pan and slowly add the cream (the caramel will bubble up quite a bit so be mindful) then the fleur de sel. Stir in the sour cream until the mixture is smooth. Let cool while you work on the brownies.

To make the brownies: Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray, then line the pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on opposite sides so you can lift the brownies out afterward.

Whisk the flour, salt and cocoa powder together in a medium bowl. Add the chocolate and butter to a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until both are melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the pan and bowl from the heat, but leave the bowl sitting on top of the pan. Add both sugars to the bowl and whisk until well combined. Remove the bowl from the pan. Crack three eggs into the batter, whisking to incorporate just until combined. Add the remaining 2 eggs, again whisking only until just combined. Stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and use a rubber spatula to fold them in until just a few streaks of flour remain.

Pour half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan and spread in an even layer. Add 3/4 cup of the caramel (don't use it all) on top of the brownie batter and spread evenly - try to keep it away from the sides of the pan or it might burn as it cooks. Drop heaping spoonfuls of the brownie batter over the caramel and spread as best you can to cover the caramel. It won't be perfect, don't worry too much about it.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and sprinkle the tops with the fleur de sel and coarse sugar. Let the brownies cool completely before lifting them out and cutting them into squares.

Store the brownies tightly wrapped at room temperature. They also freeze well.