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Warning: If you are on any kind of diet, you may want to look away.

I first made these bars over the Christmas holidays last year with the intention of blogging about them. Well, let’s just say, they didn’t make it that far. They seemed to disappear before I could get pictures. So obviously I had to bake them again. For the sake of pictures, of course.

The bars look so sinful and taste incredible! They have a blondie type texture with chocolate chunks, carmel pieces, mini marshmallows and butterscotch chips mixed in. And it doesn’t stop there, oh no, right before you bake them, the batter is topped off with even more chocolate, carmel, marshmallows and butterscotch. Oh yeah!

I’m not sure why they are called Rocky Ledge bars but quite frankly, I don’t really care what they are called when they taste as wonderful as they do!

Rocky Ledge Bars
adapted from Martha Stewart

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups packed dark-brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
18 soft caramel-candy cubes, coarsely chopped
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used semi-sweet chocolate chunks)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Lightly butter a 9-13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper, allowing an overhang on the longer sides. Lightly butter parchment with butter (not overhang).

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt and baking powder; set aside.

Mix butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in flour mixture until just combined, being sure not to over-mix. Fold in half of each of the caramels, marshmallows, butterscotch chips and chocolate.

Pour batter in pan and spread evenly. Distribute the remaining caramels, marshmallows, butterscotch chips and chocolate on top. Bake until golden brown or a cake tester comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool. Lift out of pan and move to baking sheet. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until set.

Remove the parchment and cut into pieces. Store in an airtight container at room temp for up to 1 week.

Note: the original recipe called for white chocolate but I omitted it. If you prefer, add 1 cup white chocolate, coarsely chopped, in with the rest of the goodies (1/2 cup in batter, 1/2 cup on top).

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The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

This month’s Daring Bakers challenge was especially exciting as I had never made my own graham crackers before. Part of the challenge was to bake them using Gluten-Free flours. The graham crackers, to me, were much better than store bought!

The second part of the challenge was to make Nanaimo Bars using the graham crackers in the base. I had heard of Nanaimo Bars before, but I had no idea what they were exactly. Boy was I missing out. My goodness, these things are addictive. The bottom layer is made up of coconut, walnuts (or almonds), chocolate and of course, ground graham crackers. The middle layer is what surprised me the most. I was expecting a custard/pudding type filling, not a wonderful vanilla buttercream texture filling. Top it all off with melted chocolate and it just doesn’t get much better that that.

To say the dough was a little sticky would be an understatement. I had flour everywhere when I finished rolling the crackers out. Everywhere.

Now, you can cut out the crackers in any shape you desire, but I was boring and went with round. I tried for some cute fluted edged crackers but those didn’t quite make it. In other words, they were ugly. No worries though, I just made those into the crumbs for the base of the Nanaimo bars.

While I couldn’t find two of the three flours called for, I did find a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All Purpose Baking Flour. It seemed to work just as well as the other flours would have.

I’ve posted the recipe below with the adjustment for the flour mix I used. For the recipe using sweet rice flour, tapioca starch and sorghum flour, check out Lauren’s site.

Gluten-Free Graham Wafers
adapted from 101 Cookbooks

2 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp All Purpose wheat flour (or GF AP Baking Flour Mix)
1 cup (200 g) (7.1 ounces) Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
1 teaspoon (5 mL) Baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (4 mL) Kosher Salt
7 tablespoons (100 g) (3 ½ ounces) Unsalted Butter (Cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)
1/3 cup (80 mL) Honey, Mild-flavoured such as clover.
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Whole Milk
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.

2. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.

3. Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.

4. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.

5. Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).

6. Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.

7. Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.

8. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time.

9. When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.

Have I mentioned these bars can be addictive?!? They are super sweet and a 2″x2″ square was more than enough for me. Luckily they freeze really well and are utterly delicious when they are frozen.

Lauren allowed for any flavor variation but being that I had never tried one before, I opted to stay with the traditional version. After seeing some of the other Daring Bakers outstanding flavor combinations, I will be making these again soon! Take a look at these variations – cappuccino, hazelnut, coconut vanilla bean and cranberry.

Nanaimo Bars
adapted from City of Nanaimo

Bottom Layer:
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See recipe above)
1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Walnuts or Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

Middle Layer:
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Confectioners’ Sugar

Top Layer:
4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

Directions:

1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.
2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and confectioners’ sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.
3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.

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Need to warm up? These chewy Dark Chocolate Chipotle Cookies will certainly help. The wonderful dark chocolate taste comes through first, followed closely by the kick of the chipotle. Such a great flavor combination!

The recipe originally comes from Nantucket Cookie Company via the Food Network and it is the January Cookie Carnival recipe. I halved the quanity mainly because I just couldn’t bring myself to use 4 sticks of butter. I tried, I just couldn’t do it. In the end, my hips thank me, I’m sure of it.

The recipe calls for crushed dried chipotle peppers but my grocery store was out (and has been for a while) so I substituted with ground chipotle powder. Being cautious because I didn’t want to make them too spicy, I started with 1/8 tsp and worked up from there, according to taste. The final amount I used was somewhere between 1/2 tsp and 1 tsp. Really accurate, I know. After tasting the cookies, I do think I could have added even more. The taste was very subtle but it added a lot to the overall flavor of the cookies. I plan on trying these again when my grocery store gets the crushed dried peppers in stock.

I recommend trying these warm, right out of the oven, with a glass of milk or some hot chocolate!!

Dark Chocolate Chipotle Cookies
adapted from Food Network (Courtesy of Nantucket Cookie Company)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar, plus 1/4 for topping
1/4 cup cocoa powder sifted
1 teaspoon crushed, dried chipotle peppers (or Ground Chipotle Chili powder)
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons water
4 oz (0.25 lb) high-quality bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup high-quality bittersweet chocolate chips, plus 1/4 cup for topping

Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.

With an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth, scraping sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the sugars, sifted cocoa powder and chipotle peppers and mix at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 1 minute). Add eggs, vanilla and water. Beat at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the slightly cooled melted chocolate and mix again, scraping the bowl to evenly mix everything.

Add the flour mixture, and mix until well incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and mix briefly (about 5 seconds).

Refrigerate the dough in the bowl until cool and fudge-like, but not solid, for approximately 1 hour. You can use an ice cream scoop to create large, even sized cookies. These cookie-dough balls can also be frozen at this point, and baked right from the freezer whenever the need arises.

When ready to bake, press the tops of the cookie dough-balls into the sugar, and then top with 2 to 3 pieces of dark chocolate chips. Place onto parchment-lined baking sheets, allowing space for the cookies to spread (Note: I did about 4-6 cookies per sheet because they spread out quite a bit). Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven when they are still a little underdone. Slide the parchment paper with the cookies onto a cooling rack and allow to cool before removing from parchment.

Made about 2 dozen large cookies.

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With the Holidays practically here, I’ve been waiting to do all of my major baking until just the right time. It’s been quite a struggle. I’m working through it though.

So, back to the point. I was in need of some small homemade treats to give as gifts and instead of baking cookies, I thought of popcorn. But, I didn’t want to do the typical popcorn balls or carmel popcorn. I think I hit the jackpot when I ran across this recipe from Gourmet. Considering my obsession with maple, I was thrilled!

And, it’s a cinch to make. Five ingredients and it’s done.

Maple Almond Popcorn
adapted from Gourmet

8 cups popped popcorn
1 cup coarsly chopped almonds (or pecans), toasted
3/4 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt

Line the bottom of a 17″x11″ jelly roll pan with foil. Lightly oil foil (I used cooking spray).

Toss the toasted nuts and popcorn in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

In a heavy small sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the maple syrup and salt. Boil (still at med. heat), without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 300°F (about 15-20 min). Watch the mixture closely towards the end of the cooking as it can burn quickly.

Note: It’s completely optional, but you could do as I did and spill most of the maple syrup on the counter top, down the front of the cabinet and on the floor. Again, completely optional step.

Pour maple syrup mixture over popcorn and nuts. Stir quickly and briskly with a silicone spatula (or oiled spoon) to coat then immediately spread popcorn onto the foil covered pan. Cool completely, break apart into bite-size pieces.

Enjoy!

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When it comes to preparing for Christmas, I’m a last minute person. I get ready in my head and I count down the days, but every year it seems it’s a week or so before and I haven’t started anything.

So this year, I’m determined to be completely prepared. I have to say, I’m quite proud of my progress so far. Only 7 days into the month and I have a tree! In a stand! With lights and ornaments! Now, let’s hope I can keep the ball rolling here.

So I thought, why not put together a list of a few really cool things that would make great gifts for foodies (or anyone, really)! Some of them I have tried or own, some I really want (are you listening Santa?) and some that are just plain cool.

Nonstick Edge Brownie Pan
How cool is this?!? When it comes to brownies, I’m all about the edge pieces. I think this pan & I would get along really well. Too well, actually.

Jumbo Cookbook Holder
When I bake, things get messy. I really need to protect my cookbooks better than leaving them perched precariously, somewhere between the flour and sugar.

RSVP Endurance Stainless Steel Spice Spoons
I love measuring spoons. I must have at least 4-5 mix-matched sets. So, do I need another set? Technically, no. These are totally different though. (That justifies it right?) The narrow stainless steel scoop fits nicely into spice jars. No more having to use two different measuring spoons because the one I need won’t fit thorough the jar opening. They would be great as a stocking stuffer also!

KitchenAid 5-Quart Glass Bowl
After seeing the new Kitchen Aid 90th anniversary stand mixer, I immediately fell in love with the glass bowl. I loved it even more when read the details… It can go in the microwave, dishwasher and freezer! It has a pouring spout (which is the one thing I wish my existing bowl had), a specially designed lid (also dishwasher safe) and measuring lines on the bowl. Need I say more?

I am an avid Etsy browser/shopper. I could spend days upon days just browsing through all of the wonderful handmade and vintage items! Here are a few really great handmade Etsy items that would make spectacular Christmas gifts for anyone on your list!

Happy holiday shopping!

Now, I’m off to do some shopping of my own. The only thing under my tree right now is my cat.

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I’m so happy to report that my first Daring Bakers challenge was a total success! And a tasty one at that!

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

Note: Rather than posting all of the instructions here (and there are a lot of ‘em), here is a link to Lisa’s blog where she has the complete and detailed info. Keep scrolling for my experience with making cannoli.

Because I had never made cannoli, naturally I didn’t have any cannoli forms. I found 4 stainless steel forms at a local kitchen store but, I figured in order to make more than 4 cannoli at once I should try making some forms out of wooden dowels. So, off I went to the hardware store and picked up two 7/8″ dowels (regular size cannoli) and one 5/8″ dowel (mini cannoli). I then cut them into 5.5″ long pieces for the 7/8″ dowels and 3.75″ long pieces for the 5/8″ dowel. After that, I sanded, sanded and sanded them down until they were perfectly smooth.

After sanding about the 8th dowel, I was wondering why I really needed that many. But in the end they did come in handy, as I was able to form most of the cannoli shells at once then fry them without having to stop and wait for the forms to cool before moving on.

From what I had read before, cannoli dough can be pretty difficult to roll out by hand. But as I don’t have a pasta machine (the other method for rolling out), I decided to just go for it. I divided the dough in half and rolled out a one at a time. I quickly learned just how difficult this dough really is. The minute I thought, “Hey, I’m getting somewhere here” it would shrink and become half the size of what I had just rolled out. It finally gave in after a lot more rolling and I was able to start cutting out the circles.

After they were cut, I rolled them into an oval shape, wrapped them around the oiled cannoli forms and sealed them with egg whites. I did the same thing for the second half of the dough, but this time rolled it even thinner. This resulted in better blistering of the shells when they were fried.

While the shells were cooling, I made the fillings. I had planned on only doing a traditional ricotta and a pumpkin version. But, in my true nature, I over did it a bit. When all was said a done, I ended up with 5 different fillings. Five. Why? I’m not really sure.

The flavors are (clockwise): Key lime mascarpone, traditional ricotta with mini chocolate chips, peppermint mocha, pumpkin pecan and chocolate raspberry cannoli fillings. (Recipes are below)

I drained the ricotta overnight to get the excess moisture out but I think something went a little off, as my ricotta was a bit grainy and not very smooth. It still tasted great though.

Also, when the shells were completely cool (before filling), I dipped the ends of a few in melted dark chocolate. For the peppermint mocha cannoli, I rolled the ends in peppermint pieces before the chocolate hardened.

So what to do with the scraps of dough left over? You could re-roll them and make more cannoli OR you could dunk them in the oil and make crispy little cannoli bites. Of course, to make it even better you could drizzle dark chocolate and sprinkle them with confectioners’ sugar. I really should have made cannoli sooner. I never knew this was what I was missing.

If you look closely, you’ll see that I completely forgot to fill a shell with the chocolate raspberry filling. So just squint or use your imagination, please.

Recipes:

• Cannoli Shells

Key Lime Mascarpone Cannoli Filling
adapted from Epicurious

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp freshly grated lime zest
4 tbsp bottled key lime juice (5 tbsp if fresh)
1 cup (1/2 lb) mascarpone cheese

With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese with sugar, zest and lime juice until smooth. Beat in mascarpone. Chill at least 4 hours before filling.

Pumpkin Pecan Cannoli Filling
adapted from Stonewall Kitchen

1 cup ricotta cheese, drained
1/2 cup Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter
2 tbsp confectioners’ sugar
2 tsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Combine the ricotta, pumpkin butter and confectioners’ sugar and mix until well blended. Chill 2-4 hours.
Combine the 2 tsp granulated sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Sprinkle on the ends of the filled cannoli.

Note: This recipe was originally intended to use Stonewall Kitchen’s Maple Pumpkin Butter, but after searching every store in my area, I couldn’t find it. So I substituted Murihead Pecan Pumpkin Butter that I found at my local Williams-Sonoma.

Traditional, Chocolate Raspberry and Peppermint Mocha Cannoli Fillings

I used Lisa’s recommended ricotta recipe and divided it in thirds.

2 lbs ricotta cheese, drained
1 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons finely chopped candied orange peel or zest of one small to medium orange

unsweetened cocoa powder
mini chocolate chips
2 tbsp finely chopped good quality chocolate, divided
1/4 cup finely chopped peppermint candy pieces
1 tsp espresso powder
1/3 cup fresh raspberries

WIth an electric mixer, beat ricotta until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioners’ sugar, cinnamon and vanilla; blend until smooth. Using a wooden spoon, stir in zest.

Divide the filling into three separate bowls (just about 1 cup in each bowl).

For the traditional ricotta, just mix in desired amount of mini chocolate chips.

Chocolate Raspberry filling: Mix in 2-3 tsp of cocoa powder (add to taste). Add in 1 tbsp of the finely chopped chocolate, and fresh raspberries. Blend well.

Peppermint Mocha filling: Mix in 2-3 tsp of cocoa powder (add to taste). Add in espresso powder, peppermint pieces and remaining 1 tbsp of chopped chocolate.

Chill fillings for about 4 hours before using.

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