Winstead Wandering

Prone to Wander

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

by

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies are the much-loved classic treat with the added bonus of being packed full of chewy chocolate-covered toffee bits. 

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies are the much-loved classic treat with the added bonus of being packed full of chewy chocolate-covered toffee bits.

I’m teaching English for the first time this year. Have I mentioned that on the blog yet? Though my degree is in business, I’m doing my best to teach my freshmen the ins and outs of symbolism, grammar, and whatever else I’m supposed to be covering.

One of the best parts about this semester is that I get to teach To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s one of my all-time favorite books so, as you can imagine, I’m having a blast reading it with my English I Accelerated students. Many of my students are loving it, too. They’re loving it so much they rocked our first test and, as promised, I baked them a treat to celebrate.

I debated what to make them. A lot of the teenagers I know don’t have the most adventurous palates, so I settled on these toffee chocolate chip cookies. You can’t go wrong with a good chocolate chip cookie, especially if you know the right tricks. I did want to make them a little more special, though. I tossed in a bag of toffee bits and the end result was a cookie loaded with semi-sweet chocolate and chewy chocolate-covered toffee bits.

They received rave reviews.

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies are the much-loved classic treat with the added bonus of being packed full of chewy chocolate-covered toffee bits.

[Read more…]

Triple Chocolate Frosted Brownies

by

A rich brownie recipe is packed with chocolate chips and smothered in a fluffy homemade buttercream to make mouthwatering triple chocolate frosted brownies.

A rich brownie recipe is packed with chocolate chips and smothered in a fluffy homemade buttercream to make mouthwatering triple chocolate frosted brownies.

I have a recipe for double chocolate brownies. They’re pretty much everything you could want in a brownie: rich, fudgy, and studded with chocolate chips. They’ve got that delectably chewy crust. I didn’t think the recipe could get much better, but then I added homemade buttercream and turned them into triple chocolate frosted brownies.

My homemade chocolate buttercream was the perfect addition to a recipe I didn’t think could get any better. The frosting, which is the same one you’ll find on my triple chocolate cupcakes,  is whipped for several minutes until it’s light and fluffy. On their own, the brownies are a delightful treat; with the addition of the frosting, they become a mouthwatering dessert you’ll be asked to make again and again.

A rich brownie recipe is packed with chocolate chips and smothered in a fluffy homemade buttercream to make mouthwatering triple chocolate frosted brownies.

[Read more…]

Easy Key Lime Bars

by

With an easy graham cracker crust and a creamy three-ingredient filling, easy key lime bars are rich, sweet, and perfectly tart.

With an easy graham cracker crust and a creamy three-ingredient filling, easy key lime bars are rich, sweet, and perfectly tart.

Last summer, I had this crazy idea to take three MBA classes over an eight-week period and, oh yeah, I decided to have a baby right in the middle. It quickly became clear to me that I was in over my head in my economics class because of pregnancy/new mom brain, sleep deprivation, and the fact that economics is really freaking hard.

Luckily for me, I have a smart and patient tutor living right next door: my father-in-law. He gave up plenty of evenings and weekends to help me understand the material and, without his help, I likely wouldn’t have passed the class. But I did pass, and I decided to celebrate and show my appreciation in the best way I know how: through food. My father-in-law loves all things key lime, and I’d already been toying with the idea of tweaking my lemon dream bars recipe, so the decision was made.

Unlike my economics class, these bars are easy. That creamy key lime filling has only three ingredients, and the graham cracker crust is simple to make. The resulting bars are equal parts light and rich, a combination that isn’t usually so easy to achieve, and the key lime flavor is perfectly tart without being overpowering. It may only be January, but these easy key lime bars are worth making any time of year.

With an easy graham cracker crust and a creamy three-ingredient filling, easy key lime bars are rich, sweet, and perfectly tart.

[Read more…]

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

by

Stuffed with a rich chocolate ganache and topped with the fluffiest chocolate buttercream, these triple chocolate cupcakes will fulfill all your chocolate fantasies.

Stuffed with a rich chocolate ganache and topped with the fluffiest chocolate buttercream, these triple chocolate cupcakes will fulfill all your chocolate fantasies.

I signed up to bring cupcakes to a baby shower at church a couple weeks ago. I knew right away I wanted to make something decadent and over the top, something the expectant mom would love to indulge in. I knew it had to be these triple chocolate cupcakes.

To say they were a hit would be an understatement. And seriously, how could they not be? That moist cupcake? That smooth ganache? That rich and fluffy homemade buttercream? These guys are literally one of the best things you’ll eat.

Don’t be intimidated by the multiple steps or the long list of ingredients. The cupcakes themselves are made with a box mix, and then enhanced with a few extra ingredients. The ganache takes only a few minutes to make and is so worth it. The ridiculously light frosting is the perfect topping.

Stuffed with a rich chocolate ganache and topped with the fluffiest chocolate buttercream, these triple chocolate cupcakes will fulfill all your chocolate fantasies.

[Read more…]

Homemade Peanut Butter Cup Bars

by

Homemade Peanut Butter Cup Bars are a no-bake, four-ingredient, gluten-free alternative to the packaged version. So easy, fast, and incredibly tasty!

Homemade Peanut Butter Cup Bars are a no-bake, four-ingredient, gluten-free alternative to the packaged version. So easy, fast, and incredibly tasty!

The combination of peanut butter and chocolate is downright irresistible. At least it is to J and me and, based on the number of people who love store-bought peanut butter cups, we’re just two of millions. I started making a homemade version several years ago. They were rich and smooth and one of the best things we’d ever eaten. Making them, drizzling the melted chocolate into individual muffin liners, was a little tedious, though.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cup Bars are a no-bake, four-ingredient, gluten-free alternative to the packaged version. So easy, fast, and incredibly tasty!

More than a year ago, I had the brilliant idea to make the recipe into bars, to skip the cupcake liners and use a sheet pan instead. Best. Idea. Ever. Now, a recipe that was already impossible to resist is also sinfully simple to make. These homemade peanut butter cup bars are just as good as the homemade peanut butter cups, but they come together so much more quickly. Bonus: they’re gluten free!

 

Homemade Peanut Butter Cup Bars are a no-bake, four-ingredient, gluten-free alternative to the packaged version. So easy, fast, and incredibly tasty!

[Read more…]

Maple Frosted Baked Donuts

by

Who needs the calorie-packed fried version when these maple frosted baked donuts are perfectly moist, sweet, and flavorful?

Who needs the calorie-packed fried version when these maple frosted baked donuts are perfectly moist, sweet, and flavorful?

 

If you’re from the Pacific Northwest, you likely know the heaven that is a maple bar. If that’s the case, go ahead and skip ahead to the recipe.

If you’re unlucky enough to have never had a maple bar, let me enlighten you. A maple bar is a donut: The fluffy fried kind, coated with a generous layer of rich, flavorful maple frosting. There aren’t even adequate words to describe how perfect they are. Unfortunately, now that we live in Mississippi, I’m forced to eat my annual allotment during the few weeks out of the year we’re in Oregon.

Who needs the calorie-packed fried version when these maple frosted baked donuts are perfectly moist, sweet, and flavorful?

Because I spend a good portion of my time pining for all things maple, I’ve taken to using it in baked goods. Last year, I made chocolate chip pumpkin scones with maple glaze. This year, it’s these maple frosted baked donuts. While they aren’t quite like eating a genuine maple bar, they’re a pretty darn good substitute.

Who needs the calorie-packed fried version when these maple frosted baked donuts are perfectly moist, sweet, and flavorful?

[Read more…]

Chocolate Caramel Lava Cakes

by

Chocolate caramel lava cakes, oozing with molten chocolate and melted caramel, is surprisingly easy to make and sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

Chocolate caramel lava cakes, oozing with molten chocolate and melted caramel, is surprisingly easy to make and sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

I say this all the time, but it bears repeating: we don’t keep a lot of junk food in the house. I don’t buy cookies or cakes or ice cream for a couple reasons. Mostly because I’ll eat it if we have it, and we try to be healthier than that. The other reason, though, is I’m kind of a food snob. When you know how to make perfect chocolate chip cookies from scratch, the store bought kind no longer cuts it.

Chocolate caramel lava cakes, oozing with molten chocolate and melted caramel, is surprisingly easy to make and sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

Here’s the problem: I love to bake. So even though we don’t usually have a pint of ice cream in the freezer or a package of cookies in the cupboard, I have no qualms about whipping up a dessert treat for J and I. Because I love to be in the kitchen, I don’t give a second thought to making a batch of cookies or, in the case of these chocolate caramel lava cakes, experimenting with a new recipe.

Baking is my idea of fun and these individual cakes are my idea of a heaven. The outside is just as baked and cake-like as you’d expect, but the inside… the inside combines two of my favorite flavors, chocolate and caramel, in a warm, melted mass of richness. The recipe takes less than 30 minutes start to finish and is the perfect indulgent treat for any night of the week.

Chocolate caramel lava cakes, oozing with molten chocolate and melted caramel, is surprisingly easy to make and sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

[Read more…]

Summer Berry Crostata

by

This summer berry crostata is a rustic homemade dough packed with juicy strawberries, plump blueberries, and the perfect complement of spices.

I’m taking a short blogging break to soak up time with my sweet newborn baby. Things won’t be silent around here, though; I’ve got some awesome bloggers lined up to step in and share some great content. Today, Lecy from A Simpler Grace is here sharing a must-make summer berry recipe.

I’m so excited to be here, on Winstead Wandering, and sharing my Summer Berry Crostata with you today!

This summer berry crostata is a rustic homemade dough packed with juicy strawberries, plump blueberries, and the perfect complement of spices.

One of my favorite things to do is cook traditional Italian food and the only thing I love more than that is baking Italian pastries. Ok, maybe eating Italian pastries ranks up there too. I created this crostata recipe for a cookbook draft I’m working on and it’s one of my family’s favorites, so when Abby asked me to share a recipe with you all, I knew this was the one!

The term crostata might sound fancy, but it’s really just a free-form tart or pie and can be filled with a variety of things, but summer fruits are the best!

This summer berry crostata is a rustic homemade dough packed with juicy strawberries, plump blueberries, and the perfect complement of spices.

[Read more…]

Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

by

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #mixinmoments #CollectiveBias

A chewy, flavorful store-bought cookie mix becomes salted caramel cookie bars with the addition of a rich and easy homemade caramel topping.

A chewy, flavorful store-bought cookie mix becomes salted caramel cookie bars with the addition of a rich and easy homemade caramel topping.

A few months ago, I took my decadent double chocolate brownie recipe and, because I could, added a homemade caramel topping. The result was out of this world, but it was a fairly time consuming process; I essentially made two different recipes from scratch. It was worth it, but it wasn’t something I typically have time to reproduce.

That’s why, when I found these Nestle Toll House Baking Mixes at Walmart, I knew immediately what I would create. The bars are awesome on their own. You get the coveted chewiness of a perfect chocolate chip cookie in a fraction of the time it would take you to roll out individual balls of dough, but you also get the option to customize them in a zillion different, but equally delicious, ways.

A chewy, flavorful store-bought cookie mix becomes salted caramel cookie bars with the addition of a rich and easy homemade caramel topping.

Don’t let the homemade caramel part fool you; this recipe is easy. Just add your caramels and your cream to a bowl and microwave until you have a smooth mixture. Spread it over the cooled bars and you’re done. The hardest part about making these salted caramel cookie bars? Waiting for the caramel to set up before you dig in.

A chewy, flavorful store-bought cookie mix becomes salted caramel cookie bars with the addition of a rich and easy homemade caramel topping.

[Read more…]

S’mores Fudge Bars

by

It doesn’t get more rich or decadent than these s’mores fudge bars: a gooey layer of fudge sandwiched between graham cracker crust and toasted marshmallows.

I have no idea how many s’mores recipes I’ve pinned since the invite-only days of Pinterest, but it’s been a lot. A lot. The combination of graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate is one of my favorites, and I’ll pretty much pin anything that promises to deliver that combo in a new and exciting form.

It doesn't get more rich or decadent than these s'mores fudge bars: a gooey layer of fudge sandwiched between graham cracker crust and toasted marshmallows.

I’ve made a startlingly small number of those recipes, though. I don’t often buy marshmallows- probably because then I’d make all the recipes. Many of the recipes call for marshmallow fluff or milk chocolate, two other ingredients I don’t usually have on hand. My most recent pregnancy craving, in addition to potatoes in any form, has been s’mores, though, so I was super grateful when the stars aligned to bring me this s’mores fudge bars recipe because I actually had the ingredients for it.

Well, I didn’t really have all the ingredients, but I had enough to change it up and create my own version which, if I do say so myself, is really freaking good. The graham cracker crust is really straightforward: graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. The fudge part is where things get interesting: sweetened condensed milk is melted together with semisweet chocolate chips for a rich, smooth layer that’s reminiscent of milk chocolate. The whole thing is topped with marshmallows that get perfectly toasted and gooey in the oven.

It doesn't get more rich or decadent than these s'mores fudge bars: a gooey layer of fudge sandwiched between graham cracker crust and toasted marshmallows.

[Read more…]