Biscoff

Farewell

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

My oldest daughter LOVES to read. I actually call her Rory (Gilmore Girls reference) sometimes. We have had the same conversation Lorelei and Rory had regarding things not fitting into a backpack because of multiple books. To say my daughter reads a lot is an understatement. She would love nothing more than to spend a day curled up and reading a book! She is in eighth grade this year. She has had two librarians in her life thus far and she has taken a shine to both.

IMG_2007

In the next few weeks our middle school/ town librarian will be embarking a new adventure with her family in another state. We are sad to see her go, but we wish her all the best! She has picked out numerous books for Kailee, as I am sure she does for many folks in our town and school!! Kailee loves that Audrey will search for just the right book for her, or be able to come up with a title at ease that fits just her style. Thank you Audrey for making our children feel special, and for knowing just what book to pick! The next librarian has some big shoes to fill – I hope they welcome the challenge and our kids with “open books.”

As a token of appreciation I made some chocolate cups for her. I mean, who doesn’t love to each chocolates while they read?!?

IMG_2006You can make the chocolate cups with a candy mold and tempered or compound chocolate, OR you can buy ready made ones at your local grocery store. I filled them with Biscoff Cookie Butter Smooth Spread and topped with dark chocolate ganache.

IMG_2005I also made ones that I filled with just the ganache and topped with a freeze dried raspberry.  I used my go-to ganache recipe.

These are super easy and quick to make because you don’t have to let the ganache sit before using it, as you might if you were piping or frosting a dessert, especially if using store bought chocolate candy shells. You fill them and are ready to enjoy!

The possibilities are endless – get creative!! These are a quick treat with big flavor!

 

Biscoff Fudge + Mini Chocolate Chips = Cookie Dough Fudge

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes I get ideas and unintentionally they morph into to something fantabulous. Last night was one of these times. I had a few jars of Biscoff Cookie Spread in my cupboard itching to turn into something tasty. I was sitting a work dreaming of what I could whip up when I got home and it hit me — FUDGE! Why have I not tried making Biscoff fudge before??!! So it started. I love eating a spoonful of Biscoff with a few chocolate chips studded through it so I figured, why not throw in my half bag of mini chocolate chips into the fudge and behold – I made a fudge that tastes EXACTLY like raw cookie dough. EUREKA! This stuff is addicting.

This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to suit your sweet tooth needs. This would also be a great substitute for a holiday plate instead of peanut butter fudge (even if you chose not to add the chocolate chips!).

INGREDIENTS:
12 oz. white chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
3/4 jar Biscoff Cookie Spread
1 cup powder sugar, sifted (this matters!)
3-5 oz. mini chocolate chips (optional)

img_1789DIRECTIONS:
Line a 11 x 7 pan with parchment (this will save you a lot of work). In a large and heavy saucepan combined white the first four ingredients. Melt over medium heat. Make sure to stir constantly and get the bottom of the pan while stirring. It only takes a few minutes for this to burn due to the high sugar content. Once the mixture is melted and smooth, remove from heat and stir in sifted powdered sugar (if you don’t sift it you risk having lumps of pure powdered sugar studding your fudge – no good). After this is fully combined work quickly if you are adding the chocolate chips, which will melt and swirl through the fudge. Pour into prepared pan and cool at room temp until set. Cut and ENJOY!

You can choose to pour the chocolate chips over the top after it has been poured into the pan, or you can used chunky Biscoff spread, or crumbled Biscoff cookies, Heath Toffee Bits … the add-in possibilities are ENDLESS!

Making Whoopie!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

I LOVE WHOOPIE PIES! I love the messy and ooey-gooey goodness they leave behind on your fingers, which I never waste on a napkin. There possibilities are endless! My new favorite filling, which I used for this batch, is Biscoff cookie spread and Heath Toffee bits. ADDICTING is an understatement.

There is some debate about what makes a whoopie pie a whoopie pie … is it the shape? Is it the consistency? Is the filling wedge between to pieces of cake? Is it the filling itself – fluff and Crisco, an egg white cooked frosting or buttercream?

Whenever I make chocolate whoopie pies I make a double batch of devils food cake, but I reduce the water by 1/4 –  1/2 cup and slightly under bake to ensure that stick to your fingers goodness.

Don’t have the ingredients or time to make them from scratch – don’t sweat it! Use a box mix of devils food cake. When you use 2 boxes of your favorite devils food cake mix,  reduce the water by 1/4 – 1/2 cup and slightly under bake. No one will ever know that you didn’t make them from scratch, and honestly, who cares? If they taste good that is all that matters!!

I always bake my whoopie pies on parchment lined baking sheets and use a small cookie scoop to portion them out. This helps them have that great circle, domed shape. Let them cool slightly and then run a spatula underneath each one. This will help the underneath layer get some air, which will help with you put the filling on, as it won’t be so tacky.

For the filling I grabbed two jars of Biscoff smooth spread and one bag of Heath toffee chips. I scrapped out every bit of spread into a mixing bowl, dumped in the entire bag of toffee chips and 1 1/2 of cups of powdered sugar. This amount of powdered sugar does not add too much sweetness or dull the flavor of the Biscoff spread – it merely adds structure to the spread so it doesn’t seep off the sides of the whoopie pie.

When placing the filling on the whoopies pies, I leave them on the parchment paper – I do not hold them or they will stick to your hands and you risk the cake crumpling in your hand. I find it easiest to put your filling into a piping bag and using a large round tip pipe the filling onto one side and then top with the other side. If you don’t have one then just get a heaping amount onto a butter knife and plop it in the center and gently spread the filling outward.

13244867_10103037613125799_4870923169661323086_nAfter I have made all my whoopie pies, I eat one. Someone has to do quality control! It’s a downright dirty job, but I will suck it up every time and eat one! Believe me, with this filling you will too!

 

Cookie Spread!

~ Laura ~ 1 Comment

IMG_1803I have found two types of people – people who go gaga over cookie spread and those who look at you with a blank stare because they have never heard of it (I know what you’re thinking … how can someone not know what it is!?!). Regardless of which category you fall into it, I have found a recipe to feed your addiction or to start one!

My daughter was home sick on Monday with a stomach virus that has been running amok in our school. She was laying on the couch curled up in a ball watching a movie. I had already done the dishes, tidy up the house, vacuumed and taken down the Christmas tree – don’t judge. Side note: having a fake tree enables me to keep it up longer. I don’t apologize for this by any means … I love to decorate my tree to make it look pretty and the lights on at night is just too pretty to only have up for a few days.  So since I had exhausted my ideas to entertain myself while my daughter was sick I decided to make brownies. I felt slightly bad about this since I knew she couldn’t eat any of the brownies I was going to make, but assured her I wouldn’t bring them to work so that she could enjoy them when she was feeling better.

I had some extra Biscoff spread from Christmas treats that I had been saving for just the right recipe. So I turned to my good friend Google and searched Biscoff spread brownies. There were a ton of different recipes. Blondies made with the spread incorporated, brownies with a Biscoff spread frosting, layered brownies, the list goes on and on, but one photo caught my eye! http://www.biscoff.com/create/recipes/195/fudgy-biscoff-swirl-brownies

Oh my goodness! AMAZING! The brownies are thick and fudge – and moist! The swirled spread on top pushes this one over the edge into a you can’t just stop at one even though they are decedent and delicious! You will not regret trying this recipe!