Brandy Soaked Cherry, Chocolate and Almond Blondies

I know I have mentioned smittenkitchen before- she is just amazing at inspiring me into crazy baking adventures and keeping me from fitting those skinny jeans! I can't put all the blame on her though as this time it was a birthday party and some friends over for dinner that got me asking "What should I bake?" A quick search pointed me to this super flexible blondie recipe. I absolutely agree with her comments in this recipe, being able to use melted butter instead of a standard room temp is a wonderful time saver and these blondies are easily going to become my go-to when I need a baked good fast!

 

I made two batches in just one weekend using the double recipe for the 9 x 12 pan and my only criticism is it is impossible to wait for these to completely cool! I was a bit too hasty on both batches and ended up with some broken bars that were "damaged" and I had to take care of them!  I guess the diet is on hold till Monday yet again. The version pictured above used dried cherries soaked in some brandy for about 20- 30 min to plump them up and rehydrate them slightly but if you are looking for a more child-friendly dessert you can also do this with hot water. I also made a simpler version using just chocolate chips and walnuts and there were no complaints (in fact I think there was a bit of a fight over the last few crumbs)!

click through for the recipe! and if you want a million mix in suggestions head to smittenkitten's comment section

Girls' Night Out: Red Velvet Whoopie Pie

I don't want to get into how long its been since I was a care free co-ed living the college life but one thing is sure I don't see the girls as often as I use to. While we might not have ended the night by drinking till they kicked us out of the bar, it was still a great night and even better when I woke up feeling clear headed and remembering everything! With the temperature dropping and a pregnant friend to satistfy I decided to bake something fun for an after dinner treat.

As the notes say on the Food Network site - please don't expect this to come out exactly like a red velvet cake, whoopie pies are a bit closer to a cakey cookie. While I really liked them as is, I think that making them even more bite size would have been better as they were quite the mouthful.