Happy Christmas

Christmas sort of catches me by surprise every year. I always know when it's coming, but I am never fully prepared for how quickly it approaches, and how happy I am when it does. Every year I worry that I can't get in the Christmas season, and it won't feel the same as it did last year. 

On Tuesday my family and I got our Christmas tree. We pulled out the ornaments and made a fire. Every time we took out an ornament from the box, we would tell the story behind it, the one we hear every year but it never gets old. When the tree was all lit and decorated, I went outside to see what it looked like from the street. I watched the first snowflakes fall, and giggled at the thought, we may actually have a white Christmas. When I opened the door to go back inside, and I saw how the lights glowed, and the stockings seemed eager to be filled, and the angel at the top of the tree smiling down on me, I felt a wave of relief settle over me. That is when I finally got the much anticipated feeling of Christmas. 

Of course, there was some baking too. 

Chocolate Peppermint Whoopie Pies

Adapted from Gourmet, 2003

For the pies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg

For the filling

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar

2 cups marshmallow cream such as Marshmallow Fluff

1 teaspoon vanilla

Candy canes (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until combined. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.
3. Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a handheld, then add egg, beating until combined well. Reduce speed to low and alternately mix in flour mixture and buttermilk in batches, beginning and ending with flour, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, and mixing until smooth.
4. Spoon 1/4-cup mounds of batter about 2 inches apart onto 2 buttered large baking sheets. Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched, 11 to 13 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack to cool completely.
5. Make filling:
6. Beat together butter, confectioners sugar, marshmallow, and vanilla in a bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.
7. Assemble pies:
8. Spread a rounded tablespoon filling on flat sides of half of cakes and top with remaining cakes.
9. Cut up the candy canes and sprinkle the pieces on the edge of the pies. 

Supernatural Brownies

I used to think that Duncan Heines was the best there was. Really. I have never had a really good homemade brownie before. I found the recipe for "the best cocoa brownies" on the Honeyandjam blog (http://www.honeyandjam.com/2010/11/gooey-cocoa-brownies.html)

But I think I am going to call them Supernatural Brownies

Supernatural Brownies

Best Cocoa Brownies


Adapted from Alice Mendrich’s Bittersweet via smitten kitchen

Makes 16 larger or 25 smaller brownies

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks, 5 ounces or 141 grams) unsalted butter


1 1/4 cups (9 7/8 ounces, 280 grams) sugar


3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 7/8 ounces, 82 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)


1/4 teaspoon salt


1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


2 large eggs, cold


1/2 cup (66 grams, 2 3/8 ounces) all-purpose flour


2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and microwave for 1:30 minutes. Remove and stir until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. It looks fairly gritty at this point, but don’t fret — it smoothes out once the eggs and flour are added.

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 25 to 30 minutes. They look underdone when you take them out, but don't worry, they are perfect. Let cool completely on a rack.

Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

I think what made these brownies so good, is how surprising they were. I wasn't expecting there to be such an explosion in my mouth. 

People say that you should keep trying new recipes, even if you have one you love. I don't think I will be following that rule in this case. I have found the perfect brownie.