Oreo Brownies

Are you ready for more recipes? I've been crazy busy over the past two months and haven't had a moment to make my own dinner, never mind making fun treats for WITK. What has I been doing? First, the boyfriend and I trained for and ran a half marathon! Second, I started a new job! 

The new job is along the same lines of what I was doing at my last company, but with much less international travel. I'll miss the monthly opportunities that I had to visit the far reaches of the planet, but I look forward to the new challenges associated with my new job!

One of the important things about my new job is that my office is so much larger. My previous company was only seven people in an office. Pretty small when you want to bake a cake and feed the leftovers to your coworkers. These days I have so many happy coworkers to feed, I can't wait to ply them with sugary sweets. How else do you make new friends at work?

I made these brownies a few months ago and fed them to myself. Luckily the recipe makes a smallish batch of brownie cookies and they store pretty well.  You can make a batch of these on Sunday and enjoy them all week long! 

With my new coworkers to feed, watch out for new recipes here in the kitchen! I'm ready for the holiday season and can't wait to get back to blogging.

One Year Ago: Brownie Donuts with peanut butter glaze
Two Years Ago: Loaded Potato Soup
Three Years Ago: Apple-Cranberry Crumble
Four Years Ago: Pumpkin cookies with Chocolate chunks & How to roast a sugar pumpkin
Five Years Ago: Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies
Six Years Ago: French Toast Cupcakes

J@H - Homemade Cherry Cola

Sorry to have been so sporadic posting here recently, I have been crazy busy with lots of things happening in my non-internet life. Many changes have occurred over the past four weeks and I'm hoping they mean that I will have more time for cooking, blogging and life!

The big news? I quit my job,! Then I took off two and a half weeks before I started a new job! I'll miss the people at my old job, the international travel and the unique business model. What I won't miss? The 2 hour and 15 minute commute.  Each way.  

In addition to my new job, I also got myself a car! I haven't owned a car in almost six years. Since I lived in Connecticut, I got around on my own two feet or via public transportation. Trains, trams, buses, I've learned the tri-state area system pretty well over the past five years. Need to know how to get anywhere via NJ Transit? I can get you there. Now I just need to learn how to drive in New Jersey. Trust me, it's a whole different game from driving anywhere else!

With these changes, I've added so much more time to my life. I finally have the time to finish my Junk at Home Challenge! I decided to get going on it right away and try my hand at cherry cola.  

I've made a few recipes from the Homemade Soda cookbook by Andrew Schloss, but I've always shied away from making this recipe. It requires a lot of ingredients. Most of the ingredients are pretty common, but I had quite the grocery list and had to visit a specialty grocer to pick up dried bitter orange peel.

The recipe itself comes together very quickly. Once the cherry cola concentrate is finished, you just have to let it cool and you can be enjoying floats in no time! This cherry cola definitely tastes like cherry cola, but it doesn't taste like something that you would buy in the store. The flavors are much more complex and pair really well with vanilla ice cream!

Let's see if I can finish my 2015 challenge by the end of 2016!

One Year Ago: Pumpkin Mallomars
Two Year Ago: Rigatoni with Pepperoni, Mozzarella and Arugula
Three Years Ago: Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Four Years Ago: Sun-dried Tomato Ravioli with Basil Cream Sauce
Five Years Ago: Pumpkin Pie Mallomars
Six Years Ago: Chocolate Crisps

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Dulce De Leche Filling

Welcome to Autumn! This morning I had my first hot apple cider, which is what makes the season a reality for me. Apples, pumpkin, cinnamon, cranberries. They all scream Fall to me! I'm sure you've noticed that your Pinterest board is full of pumpkin-flavored recipes. I'm about to add another one to the pile.

Today I'm happy to partner with Dorie Greenspan and OXO to bring you my first Fall-related recipe of the year! Dorie Greenspan is set to release her first ever cookie cookbook this October and several bloggers across the internet are working together to Bake a Difference for Cookies for Kids' Cancer. For each blog post, OXO is donating $100 to the Cookies for Kids' Cancer Foundation, with a possible donation of $100,000!

Today I'm featuring Dorie's Pumpkin whoopie pies with dulce de leche filling. The recipe came together super fast with a few new OXO additions to my kitchen. I used the new On Illuminating Digital Hand Mixer from OXO to make the cookie dough. I haven't owned a hand mixer in probably six years, but this one is so cool! The controls are digital and the mixer has its own light, you can make cookies in the dark! Additionally, the mixer comes with its own on-board storage system for the beaters and the cord wraps neatly around the base. A quick turn of the dough with a spatula and the dough was ready to go.

I quickly scooped out the perfect amount of cookie dough with the 2-tablespoon (medium) cookie scoop. Using a cookie scoop ensures that all of your cookies are the same size and that they bake evenly. I have all three sizes! Side note - the large size is perfect for making cupcakes. The cookie dough for these whoopie pies is a little loose, so using a muffin pan to bake the cookies is the perfect solution. OXO sent along their non-stick Pro 12 Cup Muffin Pan to bake the cookies. This is the most heavy duty muffin pan that I have even owned! It's ceramic-reinforced, two-layer construction with a commercial-grade coating. The cookies popped right out!

With the cookies baked, the dulce de leche filling was incredibly easy to whip up. Just five ingredients and you've got tasty filling in under five minutes. After filling the cookies with the frosting, I may have eaten a good portion of the leftover frosting...

If you too want to get into the Autumnal spirit, head to the store and pickup some pumpkin puree and frozen cranberries. Your house will be smelling of cinnamon in no time! Get yourself a pumpkin spice latte, throw on your fuzzy pants and get ready for the cooler temperatures!