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Things here are dire. And I'm only saying that because I had intended to post three times this week to make up for lost weeks. Then Sandy happened. No power. No Internet. I'm only writing now because I'm on a three-hour gas line and I have time to kill. Before things went bad, I made these awesome candy corn rice crispy treats. I was really proud. I made them, but I can't take any credit---I got the awesome idea from Glorioustreats.com (http://www.glorioustreats.com/2012/09/candy-corn-krispie-treats.html). She gives amazing and thorough instructions. If you're still feeling Halloweeny, make them. And think of me on my gas line when you do.

I came back. And I brought brownies.

I'm back. With a vengeance. I'm sorry I've been gone for so long, but I've been kind of busy. Can we just forget that any time has passed? Do you forgive me?

I figured that the only way I could come back with any sort of pride is with something super-stellar. I think this recipe is it. I snagged it from my friend and co-worker Liz Sgroi, food director at Food Network Magazine, who mentioned it to me a few days ago. Basically, she takes a brownie recipe—any one will do (box mix is fine, too)—and dumps a bunch of movie candy into it. We're calling them "Concession Stand Brownies." How could this possibly be bad?

When I posted it to Instagram, my friends went nuts—specifically Marissa Rosenblum, an old friend from my Seventeen days. Marissa is one of the smartest, coolest, fashioniest-without-being-obnoxiously-fashiony editors I've ever met—and she kindly requested that I bring them to her. Little did she know that these brownies are her kindred spirit: Not only are they filled with fun, delight, and surprises (just like her), but the brownie base recipe comes from the guys at Baked, a hip/delicious bakery based in Red Hook, Brooklyn (also just like her). Obviously the brownies and Marissa were meant to be together.

FYI: Use any assortment of movie candy here. I used Sour Patch Kids (yes, yes, and yes...amazing), Raisinets, Sno-Caps, chopped Whoppers, M&M, and Gummi Bears. I would leave out the Gummis the next time I make these because they just get too gummy.

FYI 2: No, seriously, Sour Patch Kids. You need to try this crazy/tangy/sweet combination.

CONCESSION STAND BROWNIES

1 1/4 cups unbleached flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

11 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 tsp instant coffee powder

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

5 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3 cups any assortment of movie candy

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together. In another bowl set over a boiling pot of water, place the chocolate chips, butter, and coffee powder, stirring until everything is melted and smooth. Turn off the heat but leave the bowl in place—add the sugars, and whisk until they've dissolved slightly. Remove the bowl from the pan and allow to cool to room temperature.

Add the eggs to the chocolate mixture, whisking as you add until they eggs are incorporated. Add the vanilla, and stir gently. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture and fold it all together. Don't overmix this or your brownies will be tough!

Add half the candy to the batter, stirring to coat—then pour the batter into the prepared pan. Then scatter the remaining candy over the top of the batter so that they peek out. Try to avoid the sides of the pan, as melted candy is a pain in the a** to get off a pan afterwards.

Bake for 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean. Let them cool slightly, then enjoy.

#candy #brownies #chocolate

ring in the new year: apple cake.

I felt old just making this thing. On Rosh Hashanah, it's traditional to eat apples and honey in basically every incarnation—it signifies a sweet new year (there's a honey cake to come later this week). While most people will settle for actual apples and actual honey, the generation before me loves themselves an apple cake. It's such a funny divide between the ages: When was the last time you've heard anyone under 30 say, "I'm in the mood for an apple cake" or "Does anyone know where I can get a good slice of apple cake?" It doesn't happen.

That said, I always find myself looking for something great to do with apples this time of year. Apple pie would be a safe bet, but as previously stated I have an aversion to making pie crusts. An apple crumble would be fine, too, but it just seems too gooey and heavy for a holiday that's so jammed with brisket and kugel. So the day before Rosh Hashanah, I found myself saying, "I'm in the mood for an apple cake." It's official: I'm ancient.

As with all Jewish foods and baked goods, traditional apple cake tends to be painfully dry and dense. So I was on a mission to find one that wasn't, and turned one up in Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook (as if I wasn't feeling old enough). If you don't know who she is, you're probably young (god bless you); she's a fixture in the world of Jewish cooking (she's had a PBS show and often contributes to the New York Times). I made some changes to her recipe (took out some oil and replaced it with applesauce, added cinnamon). The result was a really moist, really amazing cake that had everyone at Rosh Hashanah dinner—young and old alike—begging for more.

APPLE CAKE

5 large apples (Granny Smith, Gala, Golden Delicious, or Jonathan; Joan says you don't need to peel them, but I do anyway)

2 tsp. plus 1 tbsp cinnamon

2 cups sugar (divided)

4 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce (or you can do 1 cup vegetable oil and omit applesauce)

1/2 cup orange juice

2 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. (I put a layer of parchment on the bottom.)

Peel and slice apples thinly, then mix in a bowl with the 2 tsp cinnamon and 3-5 tbsps of the sugar (depending on how sweet you like it). Set aside.

Beat eggs and remaining sugar (should be about 1 2/3 cup) until well-combined. Then add in the oil, applesauce, orange juice and vanilla. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and the 1 tbsp cinnamon, then add to the egg mixture, stirring until just combined.

Add 1/3 of the batter to the bottom of the pan, then add an even layer of the apples around the top. Put another 1/3 of the batter on top, spreading evenly to cover, then top with another layer of apples. Finish with the rest of the batter, and top with a final layer of apples. (You could sprinkle the top with a little more cinnamon and a tiny bit of sugar, if you like.) Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean (It could bake up to 1 hour 30 mins, says Joan Nathan, but what?!!).

Chocolate-chip cookie cake: For my big boy.

Spencer started first grade last week. I can barely talk about it. Because while I'm constantly amazed at what a sophisticated and smart young boy he's turned out to be, sometimes I wish he was an infant again. I feel like I've let his childhood slip past me—like I didn't pay close enough attention to all the little details of his personality, his humor along the way. He's six, mind you, so I'm dramatizing this a little: It's not like he's 35. But I wish I could turn back the clock just a tiny bit. I would make sure to notice more.

I think that's why I love baking for him so much. No matter how grown up he tries to be when he's telling me to stop kissing him, hugging him, or singing in stores because I'm embarrassing him, his face still lights up like a toddler when I give him a homemade cookie. So when I saw this recipe for a chocolate-chip cookie cake in an old issue of Martha Stewart Kids (RIP), I knew it was the perfect thing to celebrate his first day in a big school. There was no way he'd be able to keep up that big-kid facade. And I was right: He basically freaked out when he saw this thing.

Martha layers this cake with a cream cheese frosting (which I imagine is delicious and cuts some of the sweetness), but seeing as Scott doesn't like cream cheese, I figured I'd have to rework. Instead, I layered it with a plain vanilla buttercream—I always go to Magnolia's, although you could use any you like (frankly, canned would work fine here). Also, the cake kept for three days. So feel free to make it in advance.

**One more thing: I was able to get six giant cookies out of this recipe, but only used four for the cake. So you could 1) Make bigger layers, 2) Make a taller cake, or 3) Eat giant extra cookies by themselves. We chose option 3.

CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIE CAKE

For the cookies:

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks

3/4 cup heavy cream

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

For the icing:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Put butter and brown and granulated sugars into mixer bowl; mix on medium until pale and fluffy. Mix in vanilla, eggs, and yolks. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the cream. Stir in chocolate chips.

To ensure even-sized cookies, put a piece of parchment on a baking sheet, then draw an 8-inch circle on it (trace a plate or a pan or whatever). Then, drop 1 level cup batter onto center of a baking sheet lined with parchment (keep unbaked dough refrigerated). Using a small offset spatula, spread into an 8-inch circle. NOTE: This was tricky for me because the batter was kind of thick—but just be patient and work with it. Also, I baked two cookies at a time—I wouldn't do more than that. Bake until edges are pale golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven. Use offset spatula to reshape circle. Return to oven; bake until edges are golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes more. Transfer to wire rack; let cool.

In the meantime, make the icing: Place the softened butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating for about 2 minutes (time it—you really have to to ensure the icing is smooth and light) after each addition. The Magnolia people say you might not need all 8 cups of sugar, but I almost always do.

When you're ready to layer (the cookies should be completely cool), add a dollop of icing to the cake place, then place one cookie down (so it'll stay put). Cover the cookie with icing, then repeat. Feel free to make this cake as tall as you like (I stopped at four cookies). Cut the cake with a really sharp knife so that you don't squish icing out the sides. Although I've heard of worse disasters.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies: Yum.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were never a favorite candy of mine—but I have funny memories about them, nonetheless. I remember that after my friends and I would go trick-or-treating, my one friend Sheri, who was a PBC nut, would always trade for them. Basically, she'd give you anything—M&M, those giant Milky Ways (score!), whatever—to get your haul of Cups. You would kind of pray that you'd get them from each house just so you could have a bargaining chip later.

That this is an actual memory is kind of annoying to me. I mean, of all the things to stay in my brain for twenty years, why does my brain choose this? And why do I forget my house keys three days a week?

Peanut butter cookies have a tendency to be really dry and hard, so I worked to make sure these were neither. In retrospect, I might have added even MORE peanut butter, but I didn't want them to fall apart. I think these are peanut buttery in a subtle way: You can definitely taste it, but it's not overwhelming. I also debated buying those little peanut butter cups (those little chip-sized ones), but I like how the chopped cups look in here.

PEANUT BUTTER CUP COOKIES

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 cup peanut butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp. vanilla

2 cups unbleached flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

12 Reese Peanut Butter Cups, chopped

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a stand mixer, beat the softened butter and peanut butter until combined—about 1 minute. Add the sugars, and beat together until light and fluffy, about another 2 minutes. Add in eggs, one at a time, then add in vanilla and mix until it just comes together. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides, then mix again until it's all incorporated.

In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt together, then slowly add it all in to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Definitely get a rubber spatula down to the bottom, because the peanut butter makes it hard for the mixer to get some of that flour down there. Pour about 3/4 of the chopped Cups into the batter, and mix until combined (save a few chopped cups to press into the top of each cookie—I like those wrinkly ends, because they really look like Peanut Butter Cups).

Use an ice cream scoop (about 2 tbsp-size) to scoop them onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Here's where you press those extra chopped Cups into the top of each (as stated above!). Bake for about 12 minutes, until golden brown.

Banana Bread: A thing. Bananatown: Not a thing.

I tried to make “bananatown” happen. Here’s how the IM chat with my friend Jess went:

Me: Don’t let me forget to tell you about the insane crap she pulled on me today.

Jess: What? There’s more?!

Me: Oh, don’t even. I’ll tell you tomorrow. Bananatown.

Jess: What the heck is bananatown?

Me: Bananas. Crazy. Nuts. It’s also the name of my new men’s beach.

Jess: Ah. So fetch.

This is why I love Jess: Because she more than happy to call me out on the dumb stuff I convince myself is so awesome. And because Jess loves my chocolate-chip banana bread, I like to make it for her.

I got the recipe from a great cooking blog Cat Can Cook, but reworked it slightly because I prefer the depth of brown sugar and cinnamon. This recipe makes great muffins, too (as Cat notes).

Take caution: DO NOT OVERBAKE THIS. It goes from moist and amazing to really dry very quickly, so I would consider checking it after 30 minutes (my oven bakes this in about 38 minutes). That’s just good life advice, by the way—I basically ignore baking times on all recipes and start checking things about 5 minutes before the recipe says it’s going to be done. Mulder once told me to trust no one. He’s right.

JESS’ CHOCOLATE-CHIP BANANA BREAD

3 or 4 Large bananas, mashed

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1 egg

1/3 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup (or more…I’ve done a LOT more) chocolate chips

Mix the mashed banana, sugar, egg and butter together.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Mix wet and dry ingredients all together, then stir in chocolate chips. Don’t overmix it!

Pour into a greased loaf pan (mine is about 9”x5.5”), and bake in 350 degrees F oven for 35-ish minutes, until the top is golden-brown and a toothpick comes out clean-ish (see note above).

#banana #bread #baking #recipe #cooking

I made s'more brownies from a March 2012 issue of Food Network Mag this weekend—and it was sort of a weird state of affairs. On the one hand, my friends who saw the photo went crazy for it. On the other, my husband (who actually tasted them) didn't. (Here's another version of the recipe—the version I used called for a layer of straight graham crackers on bottom, not a graham cracker crust.) I'm sort of on the fence. I feel like the brownies I usually make (Ina Garten's recipe) are much better—and that perhaps I'll steal this technique (graham on bottom, marshmallows on top) and try it with that. Stay tuned...

summer requirement: nectarine upside-down cake.

It would be a straight-up crime to go through the produce section without buying something this summer. I’m generally not a fruit-in-desserts kind of person—I will always choose something chocolate first, if given the option. But the fruit looks so damn good these days that I can’t resist it in the store. I’m sure there’s some sad reason (global-warming? droughts? child labor?) that it’s all so bountiful and gorgeous—I try not to think about it as I’m loading my shopping cart like a maniac. All I know is that I can’t get enough.

To that end, I found myself with almost two pounds of nectarines this week (because I can’t seem to stop myself) and needed something to do with them. I turned up this recipe on a random blog, Unfussy Fare, and made some tweaks to it—the cake is rich, yet light and springy, and the nectarines are sweet but not sickeningly so.

I really think my friend Alison—who, from everything I can tell, might be one of about four people actually reading this blog—would love it; she seems to like nature-y, market-y things. I tried to leave her some this morning, but I found out she’s out of town. AJ, if you’re reading this, I promise to make another batch soon. Knowing my shopping habits, I suspect I will be in possession of an absurd amount of nectarines again shortly.

ALISON’S NECTARINE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

4 tbsp butter, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 white sugar (THANKS, AJ!)

1/2 tsp cinnamon plus 1 tsp cinnamon

2 nectarines, pitted and sliced

2/3 cup sour cream

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Stir the melted butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon together until well-combined, then pour the mixture into a 9-inch round cake pan. Spread the mixture around so that the entire bottom is covered. Place the nectarine slices in a pretty pattern (if you feel like it—I think I could have done better in the middle there, don’t you?), pressing them into the butter mixture a little.

In another bowl, mix the sour cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together until smooth. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until well-mixed (the mixture might be a little lumpy). Try not to overwork the mixture here—you won’t get the lumps out. Then, pour the oil in and stir until the mixture is smooth.

Carefully pour the batter over the nectarines, making sure it’s evenly spread around the pan. Place the pan on a baking sheet, then put the whole thing in the oven. (I do this because the brown sugar bubbles up a bit, so the baking sheet catches the mess.) Bake for about 35-40 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool for about 15 minutes, then flip the cake onto a platter and let it cool the rest of the way. Or eat it warm, with vanilla ice cream. Yeah, that’s the stuff.

Blueberry Coffee Cake: Nice and (not) light.

You know it's a sad state of affairs when you say to yourself, I'm going to post a coffee cake recipe because I need to do something 'light.' Yet that's what I said this morning. I figured that after the jar bomb I dropped last week, I might need to do something less wrought.

I bought a massive amount of blueberries this past week and found myself trying to put them in everything (there's a peach-blueberry shortcake to come). This whole concept is so random and funny: I'm not joking when I tell you that I HATED blueberries up until about two years ago. I don't remember the turning point, or why I was even prompted to eat one. But it was such a sudden 180 that it caused my husband to say, "You like blueberries now?!" Yes. Apparently I do.

This cake is ridiculous: It's so good, so simple, so sophisticated and yet so oldy-timey in that who-makes-blueberry-coffee-cake-other-than-an-elderly-aunt? way. But it's the perfect thing to bring to a friends house when you don't know what else to bring. Or when they've been nice enough to bring in your mail when you were away on vacation. You know what I mean. It's a nice, warm, non-threatening dessert. Not like those crazy jars.

FYI: Have fun with the fruit. Blueberries look so beautiful right now, but I bet raspberries would be fantastic.

FFYI: You might notice that I love me a bundt pan. You certainly don't have to make this in a bundt pan—a tube pan would be fine; a regular square pan would work, too. Just adjust the baking time for the square pan—I think you'd probably need to check it after 30 minutes (a toothpick should come out clean).

AH! One more thing...I put a glaze on this. You don't need to. But I did, and I liked it.

BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 cups fresh blueberries

2 tsp cinnamon, divided

1 cup sour cream

For the glaze:

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

2 tbsp milk (or enough until the glaze is slightly runny)

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and vanilla until very light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl, the beat some more. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and 1 tsp cinnamon. Slowly add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, then add half the sour cream. Alternate flour and sour cream, ending with the flour. Scrape down the bowl one more and mix for one more second.

In yet another bowl, mix blueberries, 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray. Layer in half the batter, smoothing it out as you go, then sprinkle blueberry mixture over it, making sure the layer is nicely covered with blueberries. Layer in the last of the batter, and smooth the top.

Bake for about 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then loosen it from the pan. Invert onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

One the cake is cool, make the glaze: Mix the confectioner's sugar, milk, and vanilla together until the glaze is runny. Drizzle over the cake, and allow to harden for about 20 minutes.

Peanut-butter brownie Pie-in-a-jar: Too. Much.

I'm so super-psyched about this latest endeavor that I kind of don't want to blah blah blah about the origins of it. Honestly, there are no real origins: I saw a gallery on Refinery 29 about the best desserts in Miami, and Michael's Genuine "pie-in-a-jar" was at the top of the list. I went crazy for it—bought a case of jars, researched recipes, and ended up with this absolute amazingness.

I made two pie-in-a-jars, but I'm posting one recipe now, and another down the road...because it's just too much (I get full just thinking about them both). Also, this recipe is kind of complicated—not hard, per se, but there are a lot of steps. Please believe me when I say, Every step is worth it.

I just can't wait for you to try this. Can you stop reading and just go and make it? Like stop now. No, seriously. Go.

PEANUT-BUTTER BROWNIE PIE IN A JAR

For the brownies: 

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped 

1 ½ sticks butter, cut in cubes 

1 tbsp instant coffee (optional) 

3 eggs 

2 tsp vanilla 

1 tsp salt 

¾ cup brown sugar (packed) 

¾ cup granulated sugar 

3/4 cup all purpose flour

For the peanut butter mousse: 

1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (NOT natural—the oil gets gross and won't emulsify) 

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature 

2 tsp vanilla 

¼ cup milk 

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted 

1 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream, very cold

For the Ganache: 

1/3 cup heavy cream 

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Other random tool:

6 pint-size/8 oz. jars (or feel free to use whatever size you want)

Piping bag (but no pressure—you could use a spoon)

Make the brownies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt the on high for 20 seconds at time. Stir until smooth, and let cool slightly. In another bowl, mix together the coffee, eggs, vanilla, and sugars until smooth-ish (it'll be a little grainy). Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, stirring as you combine them (the slight warmth of the chocolate will help dissolve the sugars). Then stir in the flour and the salt until well-mixed. Don't over mix it—just stir it until you don't see flour anymore. Grease a 9x13 pan (I use Pam), and put a layer of parchment on the bottom (if you have it—no pressure). Pour the batter into the pan, and bake the brownies for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Try not to overbake—if the edges start getting tough, pull them out! Put the brownies aside to cool.

Now, make the mousse:  In an electric mixer, cream together the peanut butter and the cream cheese until smooth (about 2 minutes). With the mixer running, add in the vanilla and the milk until well-incorporated. Turn the mixer to low, and add in the powdered sugar, a little at a time, until it's all mixed in. In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream until firm peaks form. Then fold ONLY 3/4 of the whipping cream into the peanut butter mixture (leave some out as a final topping for the jars!), taking care not to deflate the cream as you fold it in. Put the mousse in the fridge for at least an hour to let it set up (longer is better....).

Finally, make the ganache: Put the chocolate and cream in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at 20-second intervals until it's melted and smooth. Set aside. Done and done.

Make the pie-in-a-jars! YAY!: Just have fun with this layering part—you have all the pieces (this is just how I did it). Break the brownies and press into the bottom of the jars (I used a ladle to get into the mouth of the jar and get to the bottom because my hands wouldn't fit. If you have small hands, power to you!). Use a spoon or pastry bag (those plastic ones from the baking aisle of the supermarket—Wilton?—work great) to pipe in about a 1/3 cup of mousse, then drizzle it with some ganache. Add a layer of crumbled brownies on top. You could repeat the process, if you have room in the jar, and finish each with a dollop of whipped cream. And maybe another little drizzle of ganache? And maybe a little brownie piece? And then maybe another whole layer of peanut butter mousse until the jar is about to explode? I don't know. This dessert will make you do CRAZY things.

Nice people get white-chocolate cherry oatmeal cookies.

FYI: I'm on a rampage. A completely crazy baking rampage. Over the past six days, I've baked five things—one of which required a two-step, two-day baking process (so that technically means six things). I have no idea what it's about. Fast-forward to this recipe: I saw my friend Gina this past weekend—she so kindly invited my family over to her fancy pool club—and I wanted to bring something to say thanks. As an aside, Gina is one of the nicest souls I've ever met, and I would do anything for her. (As you can tell by the posts, I like to surround myself with nice people. I'm very lucky to know so many—and I'm very, VERY lucky to know Gina.) She told me she loves oatmeal raisin cookies; I told myself that wasn't good enough for her. I've had this recipe for forever—I've mixed everything from cranberries and dark chocolate to apricots and walnuts into it. This time, it was dried cherries and white chocolate. But more importantly, I tried something different with the process: I put the batter in the fridge before I baked it, which I've heard makes a slightly lighter cookie (something about how it takes the butter longer to melt, blah blah blah...don't quote me on that scientific fact). All I know is that it came out amazingly well, and that you should take the extra minutes to do it. GINA'S WHITE-CHOCOLATE CHERRY OATMEAL COOKIES

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp kosher salt

3 cups old fashioned oats (Quaker, duh.)

1 cup dried cherries

1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until slightly fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Slowly add to the butter mixture, and beat until just mixed. With mixer on low, add in the oats and mix until all oats are moistened with butter (stop the mixer and get to the bottom of the bowl...untouched butter is hanging out down there. Trust me.). Add in cherries and chocolate chips until mixed throughout.

Refrigerate the dough for about twenty minutes, then scoop out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. (You can also scoop onto the sheet and refrigerate the sheet, too.) I like to press a few chocolate chips into the top of each cookie, too, so they look nice. Bake for 10 minutes, until golden around the edges.

Over the 8 years that I worked at Seventeen, I can honestly say that I secured about $2.6 million in beauty products. To be fair, I've probably only used about $50-worth and ended up throwing the other $2,599,995 away (btw, I needed a calculator to do that), but my house (read: linen closet) has seen it all. Much of this is due to the kindness and generosity of my friend Yesenia, who has been the beauty director there for a long time. She always let me into the beauty closet, and never let me go without.

So when my straightening iron started oozing something that looked like battery acid the other day, I made one call—and Yesenia had a brand new one in my hands in no less than 15 minutes. Obviously I needed to repay her in baked goods. These Hershey Bar cookies are a twist on my chocolate-chocolate chip recipe. I just chopped about 12 mini Hershey Bars, then added them in place of chips—and for the record, my hair looked awesomely straight doing it.

PB & J bars: Just because.

My mother hates peanut butter. It makes her physically nauseous. But my dad loves it—not only loves it, but used to eat it often for breakfast. When he was done, he would go to kiss my mother goodbye, and she would always complain: "Ugh, you smell like peanut butter. Don't kiss me." The ramifications of this story are so much bigger; and if you know me well, you know why this story makes me crack up.

Regardless, I really like peanut butter (I basically eat it every day with carrots as an afternoon snack). I also really like peanut butter and jelly, a sandwich my PB-hating mother never really made. So I'd been hunting for a PB&J Bar—and found one similar to this on Martha's site. I took down the PB a little and stepped up the actual peanuts because I wanted more crunch. I also used strawberry jelly because I prefer it over grape. But feel free to use whatever you like. Or maybe melted chocolate. Because I go there.

I know my mother would despise these. Which is fine: more for me and dad.

*FYI: I'm thinking of trying it with almond butter and almonds—I think it would work well with chocolate (and maybe some coconut...a Mounds-inspired bar, if you will.). I'm just saying.

PB&J BARS

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups smooth peanut butter

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups strawberry jam

3/4 cup salted peanuts, chopped

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Spray the parchment well.

Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Then add eggs, one at a time, until well-incorporated. Add in peanut butter and vanilla; beat until combined, about 2 minutes.

In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly add to the wet ingredients until well-mixed. Press two-thirds of mixture into the pan, spreading it evenly with your hands (or an off-set spatula). Spread jam on top of peanut-butter mixture. Dollop the remaining peanut-butter mixture on top of jam, spreading it and breaking it up as best as you can to cover the jam. Then sprinkle the whole thing with peanuts.

Bake about 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool; then cut into pieces.

I have a weird association between my grandmother and rhubarb—I always felt that she was the queen of strawberry-rhubarb pie (I clearly remember her making it, I swear), and that that was her "thing." So when I came across rhubarb at the farmers' market recently, I snapped it up, thinking I would recreate some bastardized version of this memory (as you might recall, I'm still learning to make pie crust...so this really means some kind of crumble or crisp or something.).

I go through the trouble—whip up this Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble from Smitten Kitchen—and come to find out that grandmother made this beloved pie all of once. ONCE. And frankly, my mother could barely remember that one time. It felt phony to make this a true post, but I think it's worth recognizing the effort—the crumble was good. But I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I've been basically living a lie.

Cake batter rice krispie treats: Mistakes happen.

I'm not perfect. There, I said it. Case in point: I love the way these treats look, I hate the way they tasted. But I feel if we go through this f-ed up process together, we'll learn something. Also, sometimes just talking out my short-comings helps me deal with them. So let's, shall we?

To make these, I added a 1/2 cup of dry cake batter (just from a box) to a Rice Krispie Treat recipe. Not really brain surgery. Mistake 1: I chose Funfetti, thinking that it would make these super-extra special and visually awesome. Turns out that Funfetti kind of tastes like marshmallows (as one would expect something called "Funfetti" should), so you couldn't really taste the batter in there. Then I put a 1/3 cup of sprinkles into the mix while it was still hot. Mistake 2: Apparently a super-hot gooey mess makes sprinkles start to spread their color all over the place. So I was quickly creating a color-stained mess. By the time I got them into the pan, I was so disgusted with myself that I could barely try them.

What I'm going to give you is a slightly tweaked recipe, based on the mistakes I made. The truth is, I actually think these are really good—but it took a little trial and error to get there.

I think we're growing.

FYI: Try your favorite cake mix in here, and let me know how it works out. Red velvet would probably be great, perhaps with a cream cheese frosting on top after they've cooled.

CAKE BATTER RICE KRISPIE TREATS

1 1/2 bags mini marshmallows

2 tbsp. butter

1/2 cup yellow cake mix

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles

Melt the butter in a deep pot over low heat. Once it's melted, add the marshmallows and stir, making sure to melt them evenly (and that they don't stick to the bottom of the pot). Once smooth, add in the cake mix and stir until incorporated.

Pour in the Rice Krispies and stir until they're evenly coated. Then, turn the mix out into a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Press the treats into the pan to flatten them out. Sprinkle the top of the treats with the sprinkles, then lightly press the sprinkles in to make sure they stick.

Allow to cool. Then cut and enjoy. You did it.

My dear, sweet, beautiful friend Jess thought I bought these corn-muffin waffles this morning. Oh, ye, of little faith. They're ridiculously easy to make—so easy, in fact, that I didn't actually make them myself: I made Lisa do it. 1 box corn muffin mix, 1 egg, 2 tbsp melted butter, 3/4 cup milk. Mix, pour into a waffle iron.

make a new friend: Oreo-chip cookies.

I'd like you all to meet Erin Phraner. By night, she writes a terrific food blog, Food & Femininity—by day, she's a shining beacon of happiness as the assistant food editor at Food Network Magazine (if you're familiar with the mag, she's the workhorse who developed the brilliant icing color chart a few issues ago).

I'm introducing her today because she's also the mastermind behind these amazing cookies. Never before has an Instagram post solicited so many comments: "Jo, I need that recipe!" "OMG, my husband would die for those!" "Send it to me, too!" But the credit is completely Erin's—she mentioned it to me in passing on an elevator ("I just make a chocolate-chip cookie base, then put whole Oreos in the mixer and let the paddle break them up..."), and for four days after, it was basically all I could think about.

Erin may make her cookie base differently—but this is how I did it, and it worked out incredibly well. I urge you to try this recipe. If you do, send me a pic. But more importantly, send Erin a thank-you note.

*FYI: This recipe now has me obsessed with other possibilities: Thin Mints?! Kit Kats?! Okay, just saying....Ring Dings?!!!! What, WHAT?!!!!

ERIN'S OREO-CHIP COOKIES

2 1/4 cups unbleached flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 sticks (1/2 cup) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

30 Oreo cookies, separated (Am I supposed to say "chocolate sandwich cookies"? We're all adults here.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add butter and both sugars. Beat until (this is very important) the mixture is creamed well—so you can't see the sugar granules anymore (about 2 minutes), but not too fluffy. I add this last part because if you overbeat, you'll work a lot of air into the batter, and the texture will come out very cakey. (Yay, science!) I don't love cakey cookies...but if you do, feel free to beat the crap out of it. Add the vanilla, then stop the machine to scrape down the sides. Turn the mixer back on, and add the eggs, one at a time, until they're well-blended. Then slowly add in the flour mixture until it just comes together.

With the mixer running on low, add in 25 Oreos about 5-8 at a time (setting 5 aside). Allow the machine to break them up, but not pulverize them (you want big chunks, but not TOO big). Scoop the cookies out with a 2 tbsp ice cream scoop onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Crumble the last five Oreos up with your hands, then press a few chunks into the top of each cookie.

Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until the edges are golden and the centers are set. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.

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