Pecan Muddy Buddies

Muddy Buddies or Puppy Chow--whatever you call it, it's delicious (for those who don't know: it's chex cereal coated in a butter/chocolate/pb mixture and then tossed in powdered sugar). And I don't know why I had never even thought about using the same method to coat something other than chex. But when I saw this recipe using toasted pecans...oh my goodness I knew I had to make it happen. Plus...it's stupid easy. Which is necessary in the unpredictable life of being a new(ish) mama.

I actually sort of am enjoying baking/making desserts with James now. I'll put him in a baby wrap and he likes to face outward and then chew on one of his baby spoons or something while I make stuff (and sometimes he tries to "help"). I think the kitchen and me making stuff in the kitchen is just super new and interesting for him and it's sort of adorable and warms my heart.

Plus it means I get to have treats. So it's a win all around.

Speaking of wins, these pecan muddy buddies definitely are one. I think I still prefer classic puppy chow but I liked the nuttiness of these-and Michael was a BIG fan. He couldn't get enough. He may have even eaten more of them than me! Which is sort of a big deal.

{Gluten-free} Salted Chocolate Chip Pecan Blondies

YAY! I BAKED A SWEET AGAIN! I'm so happy I could cry.

AND AND AND Michael finalllyyyyy really loved a healthier dessert I made (usually he's like "it's fine but it'd be better if it was normal" blah blah). So we've got double the reason to celebrate!

The blondies are AMAZING because they're INSANELY gooey and rich and soft and chewy but then there's also the crunchy toasted pecans on top and melty dark chocolate and-obviously-sea salt on top to make everything even tastier. And yeah they just so happen to be like gluten free, dairy free, and paleo. Which is like WHAAA? You'd seriously never guess there's anything healthified about them. You can trust the Michael seal of approval!

You know part of what makes blondies sosososo yummy?? 3 words: toasted.pecan.butter. YEAH. It's what's holding together a lot of this recipe and allowing it to be its dairy free and gluten free self, but it's also what makes it taste so rich and decadent and gooey and....perfect. Just...perfect. You're gonna love these. I mean it. MAKE THEM!

{Easy} Salted Praline Pecan Clusters

Look...I'm as Yankee as it gets. No one in my family is from the South or ever has been. I've lived in Ohio and NYC. I'm Italian and Irish. I think the Civil War did in fact end 150+ years ago. I don't like sweet tea.

Buuut sometimes I say y'all. And I love comfort food. And I love pralines.

So...Southerners...can you just like let me sometimes be one of you? In the land of pralines, at least?

That said...I'm 99% sure these are not traditional pralines. I've actually had a few pralines and these have very little in common with them. But...like I said...what do I know? And regardless, this recipe is insanely easy and yields DELICIOUS little pecan caramel-y clusters!

And you know what the best part of these "pralines" is? Ok....well...the best part is the taste.

But do you know the SECOND best part?? You make this recipe by just putting some stuff together and throwing it in the microwave! And...that's mostly it. Then you spoon some of the mixture onto a silpat or wax paper or something and sprinkle it with salt and YOU'RE DONE! This is actually a pretty dangerous situation we're all in now. Because we can have these YUMMALICIOUS lovelies so quickly and so easily. It's bonkers.

And seriously....they're so rich. And salty-sweet. And crunchy. It's like...pecans covered in a hardened salted caramel or butterscotch sauce...sorta. They're good, my friends. SO GOOD. That's all you need to know.

Ultimate Fudge Brownies with Toasted Pecans

This week is a little special for me: Michael's on spring break from school and he also took the week off from work. So I get to have my boy home with me all week!! Which is awesome but also means my productivity is gonna be minimal. It just always is when he's home. We get stuff done but things for him or with him, not so much the stuff I usually do when he's gone. I guess this is my way of saying that um I don't know if I'm going to have recipes for you next week? Maybe? We'll see??

Regardless...if I don't-these brownies will MORE than make up for it! They are PHENOMENAL.

Warning: these brownies are not for the faint of heart. They are very rich. The recipe uses 4 sticks of butter and 6 eggs--that equals a lot of decadence (also this recipe makes A LOT of brownies. So take that into account). I highly suggest freezing some brownies for later. And sharing with everyone so that they are in awe of you and your baking prowess.

Texture: super fudgy and decadent and perfection--with some melty chocolate chips and crunchy toasted pecans thrown in (and normally I'm not a fan of nuts mucking around in my brownies but OMG go with me on this these are an exception and you shouldn't omit them because they're awesome!)
Flavor: A LOT of browned butter means a lot of browned butter flavor, plus a lot of delish dark chocolate, toasted pecans add to the entire thing and then some sea salt on top brings everything together. Serious indulgence here, my friends. Serious brownie perfection. They even have the sought after crackly tops!

These shall go down as one of my favorite brownie recipes-EVER. You will be blown away, forreals.

Pecan Sticky Buns #GalentinesDayParty

HAPPY GALENTINE'S DAY!!

What’s Galentine’s Day? Oh, it’s only the best day of the year. Every February 13th, Leslie Knope and her lady friends leave their husbands and their boyfriends at home and just kick it breakfast style. Ladies celebrating ladies. It’s like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus, frittatas!

A few months ago Michael and I binge-watched Parks and Recreation. And we will never be the same-WE LOVED IT SO MUCH! So this year Galentine's Day really means something to me, because I love Leslie. And Ann Perkins. And April. And Donna. And the entire gang. Just like I love my food blogger gal pals, which is why we came together to celebrate this day of sisterhood and breakfast food! A big THANK YOU to Neighborfood and Gotta Get Baked for putting this thing together!

Waffles are Leslie Knope's absolute favorite, so I considered sharing some. But-I've already shared A TON of waffle recipes, and I've found my favorite waffle recipes. So I'm mixing it up with another breakfast treat that I know the Knope-ster would also dig: Pecan Sticky Buns! That are completely homemade, but pretty simple to make, and it only makes 4. Which is good because I, unlike Leslie, do not have triplets or a million friends and these are really best served fresh soooo 4 was plenty to split between Michael and I. But you can totally double the recipe if you need to!

These sticky buns are chewy and fluffy and smothered in a caramel-pecan mixture that it cooks in and is stuffed with. Nothing makes your mouth happy like something sweet and rich and nutty in the morning, or at least that's how I feel! Michael's response upon taking a bite was "mmmmmmm"...so ya know...even the fellas support these.

But today isn't about the fellas it's about the ladiiies! I have so many wonderful girlfriends thanks to this blogging community I'm a part of, and I'm lucky enough to have had the same exact best friend my whole life (my bestie Alex). I don't have a lot of friends but the ones I do have I really care about and nothing sounds better than being able to actually meet up with all my ladies for brunch. And bringing these sticky buns to the party. And then watching an old movie. That's the dream.

Check out the rest of the Galentines Day Party deliciousness!

• Caramel Cheesecake from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Hula Pie from Heather’s Dish
• Red Velvet Donuts from Blahnik Baker
• Strawberry Chocolate Chip Pancakes from NeighborFood
• Pecan Sticky Buns from The Cooking Actress
• Gin Lime Coconut Truffles from Food Lust People Love
• Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies from Wallflour Girl
• Lavender Ice Cream from NinjaBaker
• Three Ingredient Valentine’s Day M&M Fudge from Big Bear’s Wife
• Smores Waffle Sticks from A Cookie Named Desire
• Cherry Chocolate Chip Cheesecake from Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt
• Chocolate Frosted Fudgy Brownies with Strawberries from Pineapple and Coconut
• Nutella Layer Cake from gotta get baked
  

Pecan Pie Cookies

I was tasked with making cookies for Thanksgiving (so that there was a "less heavy" option than pie--I would like to note that this was for my Irish side of the family, obviously not the Italian side because...no such thing as "too heavy")--but, even though I was making cookies, I decided I wanted one of them to be a classic Thanksgiving dessert. Which is why I decided to try pecan pie...in cookie form.

So...um...how exactly do we make pecan pie into cookies? Actually...they're sort of like little flat mini pies when you get down to it. You cut out circles of pie crust dough, curl up the edges to form a little well, and you put in some pecan pie filling. Bake 'em up, drizzle some yummy chocolate on there, maybe a touch of sea salt because...well...you know me and how I feel about that. And there you go-pecan pie cookies!

My picky family were fairly wary of these guys at first, but I am happy to say that they won over my aunt, who thought she didn't like pecan pie, and my grandma-who brought a bunch home-and my cousins. Pretty much everyone tried one, which is a pretty big feat. And I was so excited I had some leftovers to bring home, because then Michael and I got to enjoy them---because yeah we loved 'em. Especially chilled! Pecan pie is usually served chilled so it really shouldn't be surprising that these are better that way too.

I love how flaky and chewy the pie crust base of these cookies is. I love the sweet and nutty pecan filling. And I love how the chocolate drizzle adds a bit of extra decadence and the bit of sea salt balances all the sweet. And it's cookie season. AND pie season. So...what I'm saying is...'tis the season for you to bake these pecan pie cookies! Santa would certainly appreciate them ;)

Salted Caramel Pecan Pie

I love pie. It makes it acceptable to eat things that-on their own-people would maybe judge you a bit for eating--you just throw it in a pie crust, call it pie, and everyone's cool with it! Like with this pie...it's pretty much just caramel (and a ton of tasty pecans) in a pie crust. If I had told people "I made salted caramel and am eating a huge chunk of it!" they'd be like "KAYLE NEEDS AN INTERVENTION!" but in pie form...everyone's cool. Everyone wants a piece. The magic of pie.

Um...so yeah. There's really nothing else to say to describe this pie--it's delicious salted caramel and pecans in a pie crust. With beautiful flecks of sea salt on top. It's pretty epic. Oooh! AND I actually think the pie got even more delicious the more days it had been in my refrigerator-it got exponentially harder to cut (I think the caramel was soaking into the crust?) but also the caramel flavor got more and more developed and it's gooey and wonderful and you all need some. Kay?

Pecan Laceys

This whole "I haven't been able to be in the kitchen too much" thing is super annoying on a few levels.

One of which is my sweet tooth. I am NOT getting enough of my sweets! And...I mean...I've become a bit of a snob about my sweet fixes. No grocery store cookie will satisfy me-I need Kayle-baked goodness!

These Pecan Laceys were just what the doctor ordered.

As Michael so eloquently put it, "I like them! They're gooey-and crispy and crunchy. And messy." Yepp. All true. They're also nutty and buttery and unique. Which is awesome. AND you can totally play around with the fillings you use. The original recipe used milk chocolate. I decided to Nutella-these laceys up. But you know what sounds amazing to me now? Salted caramel in the middle. Ahhhhhh yeah. Goodness.

But guess what? If you want...you can just eat a lacey by itself. Sandwiched-less.

If you want.

I also think they're sort of beautiful. It's the laciness. I don't know if it's that I'm in wedding mode and am thusly drawn to lace or what...but I think they're perty. Speaking of weddings: I think these would be amazing to be served at a wedding or bridal shower (I wonder what the chances are of anyone letting me make anything for any of my bridal showers...hmmm). Or the holidays-pretty sure these look sort of snowflake like too so hellloooo Christmas cookie option!

But really...

we are talking about super think and crispy-buttery and nutty-decadently filled cookies....

do you really need an occasion to eat them?

Methinks no. Methinks the only reason you need is having a rumbly in your tumbly!!

Caramelized Pecan Banana "Ice Cream" with Chocolate Hazelnut Swirl

 

It's June. Which means it is wonderfully warm out. This means it is my favorite season. My favorite month. My favorite time of year (why do ya think I chose this time period to get married?)! It also means that soon we're gonna have some hot days. And, at the very least, we have some pretty warm ones! While some people may look at this as a downside, I'm all about it. There's a whole category for food that I don't really crave until the temperature goes up: including frozen bananas, popsicles, lots of fruit, and-of course-ICE CREAM!

But ya know, I can't go around eating oodles and oodles of ice cream (cue Michael probably yelling at the screen "But you'll eat oodles of cookies!" SHUSH!)-so, you wanna know a really cool trick?

BANANAS.

No, not as in this S*** is bananas (although it is), but as in-bananas. As ice cream.

WHAAAAA?

Technically, I sort of blogged about using bananas (and strawberries) as ice cream before. But I did not give it nearly enough attention.

So allow me to sum up and then expand upon:

Summary: you process some frozen bananas in a food processor or blender and it obtains an ice cream-like consistency.

Expansion: You can also add other stuff to take it to the NEXT LEVEL. Such as peanut butter. Or chocolate. Or bacon (WHAT? TELL ME YOU DIDN'T THINK ABOUT IT!). Or maybe caramelized pecans and a chocolate hazelnut swirl.

...no? Just me?

Not anymore! Now it's all of us!

Caramelized pecans....ohhh where have you BEEN all my life? And we already know about my love for choc-hazelnutty goodness. So adding them to this banana ice cream is just genius. It's creamy and crunchy and sweet and perfect. And a little less fatty than grabbing a pint of Haagen Dazs :P

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Pecan Truffles

There was a silly time where I didn't think I liked any nuts, except for peanuts. Especially not in my sweets. But then, I discovered the wonderous chocolatey magic of Max Brenner's. In their gift shop (which is where I tend to hang out while waiting for a table) they'll give you a free sample of chocolate covered caramelized pecan truffles or some such and so, that first time, I tried it. Why not, right? It's free!

Fast forward 4 and a half years and those pecans have turned me into a con artist. I crave those little pieces of pecan heaven-the delicious chocolatey treats that made me completely change my mind about nuts (get your mind out of the gutter!) When I find myself in that gift shop, I get my free sample. I linger. I try to go to a new sales person for another one. Did they leave the sample jar unattended? I grab a handful. Yes...I'm pretty much the Bonnie half of Bonnie & Clyde of free chocolates.

*phew* glad to get that off my chest. My secret shame is safe with you guys, right?

So when I saw this recipe...it reminded me of those treats that turned me so villainous. Although they're pretty different...still good. AND bonus points-it's candy, so no baking. Which means no turning on the oven. Which means no melting in the NYC August I-only-have-a-window-air-conditioner-and-its-in-the-living-room-and-can-only-do-so-much-especially-because-electricity-is-so-effing-expensive heat. These little beauts are best served chilled.

Now, warning...these pecan truffles are messy. See that cocoa power? MESSY. Gets all up on your hands and everything it touches. But is a little extra messy chocolatey powder really such a horrible price to pay? I say worth it. Because you know what you get in return? Sweet, delicious, chocolatey, not overly sweet (or bitter) candies with a nice solid feel of firm, velvety chocolate when you bite in, followed by the lovely crunch of pecan. 

And you know what? They're not too bad for ya either. Sweetened only with honey. The only fat comes from good fats coconut oil and a smidge of peanut butter and well...pecans. And chocolate is super full of um...antioxidants and what not...yeah?

Finger lickin' good.