smitten kitchen recipes often win ours

Anonymous wrote:Do men ever participate? At our company, this is a battle where the admin staff cook and the men all eat and judge. Totally lame.

Yes-- guy and straight men participate in ours.

Anonymous wrote:http://dineanddish.net/2010/12/opposite-of-fancy-recipe-plain-extraordinary-chewy-chocolate-cookies/

I made these last night. Simple but delicious.

15:00 here. Thanks for this link! These cookies and the entire site seem great!

I recently made Smitten Kitchen's Gooey Cinnamon cake for a party and despite it being really rich, it was all gone.

Do men ever participate? At our company, this is a battle where the admin staff cook and the men all eat and judge. Totally lame.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you need to wow people or feed a lot of people or what?

At least in my office, it's an all out war to wow people. Is there really any other type?

hehe

In 30+ years of serving, never had one left on the plate!


Rocky Road Bars
(from One of a Kind)

Bar (Don’t use electric mixer for bar)
½ cup butter
1 ounce (square) unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
¾ cup pecans, chopped
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Filling (Do use electric mixer for filling)
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
2 Tbs. flour
¼ cup butter, softened
1 egg, slightly beaten
½ tsp. vanilla
¼ cup pecans, chopped
1 (6 oz.) package chocolate chips

Frosting
1 cup miniature marshmallows
¼ cup butter
1 ounce (square) unsweetened chocolate
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
¼ cup whole milk
2 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Make the bar first. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch pan. In a saucepan over low heat, melt ½ cup butter and 1 ounce chocolate. Add remaining bar ingredients and mix well. Spread in prepared pan.

Next, make filling. In small bowl, combine 6 ounces cream cheese with the next 5 ingredients (sugar, flour, butter, egg, and vanilla). Blend until fluffy. Stir in nuts and spread over chocolate mixture. Sprinkle chocolate chips over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 – 35 minutes until knife in center comes out clean. (If using a glass 9 x 13 dish, 25 minutes is usually enough.)

Sprinkle marshmallows over the cake and bake 2 minutes longer.

Now make frosting. Over low flame in a large saucepan, melt 2 ounces cream cheese. Then add ¼ cup butter, 1 ounce chocolate, and milk, heating ‘til all melted together. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Immediately pour over the marshmallows and swirl together.

Store in the refrigerator.

http://dineanddish.net/2010/12/opposite-of-fancy-recipe-plain-extraordinary-chewy-chocolate-cookies/

I made these last night. Simple but delicious.

Anonymous wrote:Do you need to wow people or feed a lot of people or what?

At least in my office, it's an all out war to wow people. Is there really any other type?

This one is always a hit when I make it.
http://www.marthastewart.com/318202/moist-devils-food-cake

Do you need to wow people or feed a lot of people or what?

These:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-thornton/fudgy-salty-peanut-butter-brownies-recipe.html

However, I use ghiradelli brownie mix vs going through making them myself. Best, Ever.

I've made these, too:
http://thedomesticrebel.com/2013/01/31/red-velvet-cookies-n-cream-magic-bars/

(the domestic rebel site has loads of good recipes)

Cheesecake and chocolate are always winners here.

Allrecipes.com

Links to recipes would be appreciated.

Thanks.