Lovin' From the Oven

Apple Streusel Bars slash Send Me to NY for the Martha Stewart Show, please? :)

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Okay before I go on with the pictures, I should probably explain the title of this post. The Martha Stewart Show is filming a food bloggers special in NY on May 12th, and I was invited to go! Just to make note so there’s no confusion, I was invited to be in the audience because they wanted to target food bloggers, not as an actual guest on her show. That would be SUPER amazing!!… and I’m sure they would’ve taken care of my traveling expenses if that was the case.


Anyways, I really really really want to go because it’d be such a great experience, especially for networking! Who knows who I’ll meet and maybe I can even get hooked up in the baking world. Oh wait, that’s just me dreaming again.


BUT (of course, there’s always a “but”)… I just can’t afford to fly to NY from LA right now. I have to RSVP for the show by April 28th, which gives me a solid week to raise funds. I know this is asking a lot, but I’m asking for any donations, small or big, to help me fund this short NY trip! In return, if I get enough donations for the trip, I promise to post 5 recipes a week for the month of May. Trust me, that’s A LOT! I’d do that just for you guys, it’s true. Of course, I’d post tons about the trip and the show as well so I can share my entire experience with you all.

Thank you for even considering donating, I know it really is asking a lot. If you feel gracious enough to donate anything, you can do so by clicking on the link below or even snail mailing me (contact me through my email: kim@lovintheoven.com for mailing address). Thank you, thank you, thank you in advance!




If I don’t raise enough to go, I’ll add the people that donated to the NY funds to my cookie mailing list so at least the money doesn’t go to waste.









This recipe comes from Our Best Bites— that blog never fails me. Actually, most apple desserts never do. I baked this in a 9″x9″ dish rather than a 9″x13″ that the recipe calls for because I, personally, enjoy thicker bars. This means I had to bake it about 10 minutes longer. The ratio of crust to apples to crumb topping was perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing about it… or maybe I’d add more apples next time because that’s the best part of the whole thing. My sister and I always end up picking out the apples to eat first.

The only thing I would change is to maybe leave off the glaze because the bars were sweet enough without it. Or if you wanted it to look pretty, you could use 1/4 of the glaze instead of the whole recipe. Here’s the recipe with my adjustments in green italics:

SWEET PASTRY:
  • 2 c. flour
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 c. real butter, softened (no substitutions!)
  • 1 egg, beaten
APPLE FILLING:

  • 1/2 c. white sugar
  • 1/4 c. flour
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon (I used about 3 teaspoons.. I LOVE cinnamon)
  • 4 c. (about 3 medium) sliced, peeled baking apples (I used 4 Braeburn apples)
GLAZE:
  • 2 c. powdered sugar
  • About 3 Tbsp. milk (whole milk is best)
  • 1 tsp. almond extract (I used vanilla extract)
To prepare crust, mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until you have pea-sized crumbles. Gently mix in beaten egg.

Spray a 9×13 baking dish (I used a 9×9) with non-stick cooking spray. Gently pat about 2/3 of the crumb mixture onto the bottom of the dish. Preheat oven to 350 and set aside.
To prepare apple filling, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Toss with apples and spread apples out on prepared crust. Sprinkle reserved crust mixture over apples evenly and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes (mine took just less than 50 minutes). When finished, allow to cool completely.

To prepare glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, almond extract, and enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Place glaze in a Ziploc bag and cut off a very small portion of one of the corners. Drizzle glaze over cooled pastry and allow to harden (you can place it in the freezer to hurry things along). Cut into bars and serve.



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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

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I’ve had such a fun week catching up with friends and staying busy. I’ve been eating out a ton, though.. which inspired me to start a new project. 🙂 Here it is, my new sister website: The Darling Foodie! There will be more for you guys to read and more food porn to look at! I must be crazy thinking that I can take up another project but I love blogging and my readers just too much!

Which reminds me, if you have anything you want me to try and haven’t told me yet, tell me in a comment here! My list of 100 things hasn’t even passed 10 yet. Haha.

Let’s break this down.. graham cracker chocolate chip crust, cheesecake, chocolate chip cookie dough, then drizzled with melted chocolate to top it all of? Can we say heaven?

This recipe has been floating around the food blogger world for a while now. I finally had the chance to make it since it’s been bookmarked for about a million years and I had all of the ingredients on hand. How convenient! Don’t be fooled by how long the recipe is… it’s really easy to put together and completely worth it! Everyone that tried it LOVED it… no exaggeration needed. Even people that don’t normally eat sweets enjoyed it. It’s the perfect blend of flavors, cheesecake is meant to be with cookie dough. The original recipe says it’s best served when warm, but I think that’s the worst advice to give! Serve them COLD! Maybe even straight from the freezer! It’s ten times better. Recipe from the Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook.


Crust

  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 5 Tablespoons butter, melted
  • 2/3 cup miniature chocolate chips

Cookie Dough

  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling

  • 10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the crust:

  1. Preheat oven to 325°. Butter a 9″-square baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving enough to extend over the sides. Butter the parchment paper.
  2. To prepare the crust combine graham cracker crumbs and butter until crumbs are moistened. Stir in the mini-chocolate chips.
  3. Press crust mixture into bottom of pan and 1 inch up sides. Bake for 6 minutes. Set pan on wire rack to cool.

For the cookie dough:

  1. Next, prepare the cookie dough. Using an electric mixer, mix butter, brown sugar, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract at medium speed until smooth.
  2. Decrease mixer speed to low and add flour. Mix just until incorporated.
  3. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.

For the filling:

  1. To prepare the filling, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar just until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract, beating just until blended.
  2. Pour batter into baked crust. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls over the top of the filling.
  3. Bake about 30 minutes, or until set. Transfer to wire rack.
  4. To decorate with drizzled chocolate, place chocolate in a sandwich bag on a microwave safe dish and microwave in 30 second intervals moving the chocolate around between. Using scissors, cut the very tip off the sandwich bag. The smaller your cut, the smalled the drizzle.
  5. Using the edges of the parchment paper, remove bars from pan. Cut into bars and serve. These bars are served best straight from the refrigerator, after cooled.

Cookie Dough Brownies

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Sorry about the pictures– I didn’t enough lighting to take a decent picture and it was the best I could do before I had to rush off to work. I can’t stand the shadow in the second picture and tried to brighten them up the best I could without photoshop 🙁

My friend, Ian, turned 23 this past week and he celebrated by having a dessert pot luck at his place after dinner at Macaroni Grill. He’s a vegan, but makes an exception for my baked goods, so I knew I had to include lots of good ol’ fatty dairy products in it 🙂 What a good friend I am, right? Haha.

I saw this recipe on Let’s Get Cookin’! and had to give it a shot with my favorite brownie recipe. I used my favorite brownie recipe posted numerous times before here on my blog, but to make it easy for you, I’ll repost it again. You can also opt for using a brownie mix rather than making brownies from scratch to cut down on time if that tickles your fancy. This dessert is very decadent and rich. A bite was plenty for me, and I’m usually a monstrous dessert eater. Don’t get me wrong, they’re delicious.. it’s just a bit overload for me!

Brownie:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup AP flour
  • ½ cup cocoa
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 8″x8″ pan.
  2. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Once melted remove from heat and add sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Blend together.
  3. In separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, and salt. Add dry mixture to the wet and mix well.
  4. Pour into greased pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.
  • 1-1/2 sticks butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 4-1/2 tbsp milk
  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 1-1/2 cups mini chocolate chips.
  1. Prepare your brownies according to the package in a 9×13 pan. Let cool completely.
  2. Next, combine the butter, sugars, milk and flour until well combined. Then stir in the mini chocolate chips.
  3. Spread the cookie dough on the cooled brownies.
  4. Then chill the brownies until the cookie dough is firm. Cut into bars and serve.

P.S. Thanks so much for all your Seattle suggestions! I’m such a foodie and can’t wait to try out some of the restaurants/cafes/bakeries that you all have suggested. I’ll be gone the 26th-29th (Mon-Thurs), but I’ll make sure to document and keep you guys posted on all the good food!

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