These could not be simpler and they could not be more delicious. You probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen already. Be warned they are super, super rich.

The bars are also very easy to make gluten free! All you need is a box of gluten free cake mix and done. And seriously, don’t stress out about not making these completely from scratch. Everyone has enough to worry about this time of year and Betty Crocker and other baking companies have spent millions of dollars perfecting the mix that is in those boxes so you don’t have to worry about it; it’s practically rude not to use them.

These would also be perfect to take to a holiday cookie exchange. They are cookie-ish, but a little more exciting. Just throw some seasonal sprinkles on top and you are good to go.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars (from The Girl Who Ate Everything)

• 1 (18.25) package plain yellow cake mix
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 (12 oz) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

I decided to try a new pecan pie recipe this year. Pecan pie is one of the few desserts I like once a year, but I’m still pretty picky about it. The chocolate and bourbon definitely puts this pie over the top. I would highly recommend it if you are looking for a twist on regular pecan pie. 

I read through the comments on the recipe after I made it and I definitely wish I had read them before. This pie makes a TON of filling. You will need a deep dish or 2 regular crusts (see my note!). I would also agree with the recommendation to cut down on the sugar to 3/4 cup. I personally didn’t find the need to cut down on the chocolate or bourbon (and this is coming from someone who is not a fan of chocolate or bourbon), however some other bakers did, but I mean, pecan pie is supposed to be decadent, why cut down on the chocolate and bourbon…?

NOTE: The original recipe called for 1 9-inch pie crust. I followed the recipe exactly and ended up with enough filling for 2 8-inch pie crusts… I would definitely recommend using a deep dish crust or 2 pie crusts like I did. I decided to cheat and used pre-made gluten free pie crusts from Kinnikinnick. These pre-made pie crusts were really not worth the hassle. This is the first bad experience I have had with a Kinnikinnick product. I’ve had good experiences with Whole Foods GF Pie Crusts in the past, but didn’t have a chance to get to WF before I needed the crusts. In the future I will still to Whole Foods Pie crusts or just use GF graham cracker crumbs.

Gluten Free Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie (adapted from allrecipes.com)

• 1 9-inch (or 2 8-in gluten free) pie crusts
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a small saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup, and butter or margarine. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until butter or margarine melts and sugar dissolves. Cool slightly.
3. In a large bowl combine eggs, bourbon, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. Slowly pour sugar mixture into egg mixture, whisking constantly. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Pour mixture into pie shell.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until set and golden. May be served warm or chilled.

Now that silly birthday things are out of the way, it’s time to get down to some very serious business.

IT’S THANKSGIVING!

Well almost, but it’s my favorite holiday of the year, so I take it very seriously. I am also more than a little peeved about the unnecessary encroachment of halloween and Christmas on T-giving’s turf. Back up off my favorite holiday, yo!

I have a habit of not being in America for great American holidays, but in no way does that put a damper on the celebration. I’m actually pretty excited to be in the States for this Thanksgiving, because the last few years, I’ve kind of been all over the place… This one year I was on a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, then I was in Budapest, the next year I was in Italy, then the year after I was in London and cooking for 25 with 1 oven and a raging case of meningitis, and then I was back in Budapest again and I nearly burnt down a really important historic building owned by the US Government. True story.

My preliminary planning for Thanksgiving may or may not have begun in February of this year… Stop it right now! Don’t you dare judge me. It’s called enthusiasm!

Like every family, we have our own traditions and favorite dishes, but I always like to try out a couple new dishes every year as well. Regardless of where in the world I’ve been or who I’ve been cooking for, I have a couple steadfast rules and traditions on which I will not budge.

• There will be cornbread stuffing
• There will be no canned cranberry sauce (unless Lauren is there and only then)
• There will be no canned cream of something soup anywhere near my green beans
• All vegetables shall be fresh, no canned, no frozen, just fresh
• Turkey is not that big a deal
• If you want pumpkin pie, you can make it yourself, pecan is where it’s at

Today is my birthday! This is my all-time favorite dessert.

Now, I’ll let you all in on a little secret. I am not really a fan of chocolate, or of dessert in general, except when it comes to this cheesecake. I love this cheesecake. Mama CC has made it for my birthday every year we have been in the same country since I was in middle school. I have been very wary of sharing the recipe and have only made it for a few select people in the past. I don’t want anyone else messing with my favorite dessert. But honestly, it’s just too good not to share.

It’s ridiculously rich. This is probably the richest cheesecake you will ever try. That is why I tried to make mini cheesecakes of it. I thought it would help stagger the richness of the cheesecake. You really can’t have more than a sliver of it at a time. So mini cheesecakes seemed like a natural solution. Mini cheesecakes were brilliant in their inception, but not so much in their execution. They were just way too much work. But they did benefit from the smaller portion; you really only need two or three bites to be satisfied.

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Cheesecake
Yields 1-9 inch cheesecake

Chocolate Graham Crust: 

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used Kinnikinnick GF Graham Style Cracker Crumbs)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

In medium bowl, stir together crumbs, sugar, cocoa and butter.  Mix well.  Press into bottom and halfway up side of a 9-inch springform pan. 

Cheesecake:

• Chocolate Graham Crust
• 2 packages (8 ounces each) of cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup good cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

This week was fairly uneventful. It did happen to involve a lot more baking and cooking than usual, but that’s always fine by me. I was trying so hard to get ahead up the Thanksgiving recipes I will be sharing next week, but I kept getting distracted by things like Funfetti truffles and mini cheesecakes. It was all fun and games until I ran out of brown sugar. How does that even happen?

There were also some birthday festivities added to the mix. It was the United States Marines Corps 236th birthday this past Thursday and I got to talk to two of my favorite Marines, which was very fun since I don’t get to talk to them nearly enough.

And today, I had some early celebrations for my b-day with the Mama and Papa CC. I got some amazing presents from my amazing parents. There was a lot of flannel involved, as in plaid shirts and pajamas (which I don’t plan on changing out of all winter, consider yourselves warned) and couple flashier things, like gold glittery heels and a speedlight flash for my camera my mom’s camera that I am permanently borrowing and purse that Papa CC picked out all by himself, which turned out to be the purse of my dreams. My father seems to have exceptional taste. I also got to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, cooking up a storm, listening to Amy Winehouse, Hungarian klezmer bands and gangsta rap from the early 90s. I have very eclectic musical tastes. In the words of Ice Cube, ‘today was a good day’.

Things I Made This Week:

• Mushroom Bourguignon
• Chicken Picatta
• Apple and Pear Crumble with Cheese 
• Cake Batter Martinis
• Sweet Potato Fries with Cranberry Ketchup
• Mango Chutney Prosciutto & Paneer Pizza

Things are about to get ridiculous. But it’s almost my birthday, so I’m allowed to be ridiculous.

There is no point in even trying to pretend that this drink is in any way, shape or form a normal or practical cocktail. It’s ridiculous and extravagant and is really only socially acceptable to be consumed on ridiculous and extravagant occasions, like birthdays. This cocktail also required a lot of hunting around for the required alcohols, but 3 stores later, I prevaled. My grocery store stocks whipped cream vodka, but not creme de caco. Glad to see what’s a priority for their buying audience.

Now, I must admit I am a little wary of cream based cocktails, unless The Dude and bowling are involved then cream based cocktails are not only acceptable, but required, but this cocktail might have changed that slightly. This is by no means an ‘everyday’ drink, it’s more like a once a year drink, thus why it is perfect for birthdays.

Cake Batter Martinis (from How Sweet Eats)

• 1 ounce amaretto
• 1 1/2 ounces Pinnacle whipped cream vodka
• 1 1/2 ounces creme de cacao
• 1/2 ounce Godiva white chocolate liqueur
• 1 ounce heavy cream
• assorted sprinkles (nonpareils work best)
• frosting

This is a recipe I stumbled across recently, but I’m already a big fan.

Initially, I was looking for a way to use up some pears and apples I had that were about to go off, which seems to be a pretty common thing for me lately. I was also intrigued by the cheese aspect of the topping. I love crumbles of any kind, mainly because of the oatmeal topping, but I would never have thought of adding cheese. The cheese didn’t really add any flavor to the crumble, but did provide a nice creaminess to the whole crumble, that you wouldn’t normally find.

When it comes to crumbles, I hate when the ratio of fruit to topping is off. The fruit is good, but so is the topping. You need to have a balance. With most crumbles I feel like you need to double the topping to get a good balance going, but this recipe brought the perfect ratio.

The recipe is from a British site and uses a British cheese, which is great if you are living in the UK. If you are living in California however, Wensleydale, is a bit more difficult to find in these parts. I struck out at Trader Joe’s and a local fancy pants grocery store, so I headed to Whole Foods and had a very in depth conversation with the cheesemonger about the merits of wensleydale (ps. how do I become a cheesemonger?). The cheesemonger was quite apologetic  about the lack of selection when it came to wensleydale, but I totally lucked out. They only had one wensleydale in stock, but it was one with cranberries in it! I was pretty excited about adding both cheese and cranberries to the crumble.

Apple and Pear Crumble with Cheese (adapted from Good Food Channel)

For the topping

• 50 g/scant 1/2 cup plain flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill GF All Purpose Baking Mix)
• 25 g/1/4 cup rolled oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill GF Rolled Oats)
• 85 g/1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 50 g/1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts
• 50 g/1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 50 g/2 ounces wensleydale cheese, crumbled

This is the perfect last minute Halloween snack! I really like the tart Granny Smith taste with a tiny bit of sweet caramel. The two go great together.

I used jarred caramel (the kind for ice cream), but you could melt caramel candies or use caramel from a caramel apple kit if you have those around. I microwaved the jar of caramel for 30 seconds and it was the perfect consistency for dipping.

Green Apple Bites

• Granny Smith Apples
• Caramel
• 1/2 of a Lemon