S'more Bars

Today I bring you one of my favorite desserts - s'mores - in bar form! Traditional s'mores are an irresistible campsite love affair between roasted marshmallow and gooey milk chocolate, all enveloped by crunchy graham crackers. In my honest opinion, it's an essential part of the camping experience. Making them is an adventure. I always look away for a second when the marshmallow's over the fire and suddenly it's aflame! It's all good though 'cause the black ones are still yummy. By the end of the night, there's inevitably marshmallow goo on my hands, in my hair, and of course in my tummy.

Now I wholeheartedly believe that messier foods are often the most delicious. But no one wants chocolate smears on their documents, so baking for the office called for something a bit more sophisticated. These bars really fit the bill. Try 'em out for a satisfying reinterpretation of the classic that fills your craving for those s'more flavors while keeping stickiness to a minimum. Nothing trumps the original though, so especially if you've never tried a real s'more, get ye to a campsite ASAP!


Now for a quick update about my "real" world. Lord knows I sound like a broken record when I mention how busy work is, but I jest not that all but a handful of my waking hours have been spent at the office for the last few weeks. And it'll only get worse with my 4-6 week trial starting early November. Posting will be less frequent, but I'll try to make each one special. This seems like a good time to say a big THANK YOU to my lovely readers and followers so far! To show my appreciation for having you in my life, stay tuned for a little giveaway action next month.

S'more Bars [Printable Recipe]
Adapted from Hershey's via Baking Bites
Makes 16 2" squares

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp unsulphured molasses
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
(from about 8-9 graham cracker sheets broken down in a food processor)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 king-sized or 4 regular-sized milk chocolate bars
1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff (Recipe Below)

XIAOLU'S NOTES: You can certainly use store-bought marshmallow fluff but the homemade recipe below is very simple, cheap, and superior in flavor. I also couldn't stand the idea of washing all 273 parts of the food processor just to make cracker crumbs, so I did it the old-fashioned way. Why yes, ziplocs are practically 19th century =p. Lastly, I can't read apparently and used a 9-inch instead of 8-inch pan, so my bars turned out thinner and less gooey than the original.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, including the sides. (You can also just grease the pan.) In a small bowl, whisk together flour, 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg, molasses, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press one half into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.


Place chocolate bars over dough, breaking the chocolate (if needed) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread marshmallow creme or fluff on top of the chocolate. Combine the remaining dough with the reserved 1/4 cup of graham cracker crumbs. Then flatten the dough into small pieces and spread them in a single layer on top of the fluff. There will probably be crumbs left over. Simply sprinkle these over the top, especially over any sections with marshmallow fluff still peaking out. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Kittencal's Marshmallow Fluff Clone
Reduced from from Recipezaar
Makes about 2 1/2 cups

NOTE: This is more than you need for the s'more bars, but extra fluff can easily be refrigerated for up to 1 week OR frozen for later use. Just make sure to defrost it and stir well with a spoon before using.


1 egg white
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup powdered sugar (confectioner's)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine egg white, corn syrup, and salt; beat with mixer on high speed for 10 minutes or until thick. Add in powdered sugar, then beat on low speed until blended. Beat in vanilla until blended.

Spicy Chinese Long Beans

It must be the combination of my Chinese heritage and my foodie-ism (is that even a word?), but Asian food markets are to me what candy shops are to little kids. I can spend (and likely have spent) hours in one, much to the frustration of my boyfriend. Twenty types of bean sauce? I'm fascinated. Fresh tofu? Is there anything tastier? (Yes, tofu DOES have its own flavor and yes, I love it!) Sweet black sesame-filled buns? Swooooon.

But my favorite has got to be the fresh produce section. Row after row of familiar and exotic (even to me) fruits and vegetables. And they're darned cheap too! After missing out on fresh green beans due to a hectic summer at work, these pretty Chinese yard-long beans easily seduced me during our recent Asian market outing.


As the name suggests, long beans can grow up to 3 feet long! They taste similar to the green beans you're used to but are both chewier and less sweet. You can find more information about them here and my fast but flavorful stir-fry recipe after the jump.

Chinese Long Beans Stir-fry [Printable Recipe]
Serves 4 to 6

XIAOLU'S NOTE: These beans should be available at most Asian markets, but you can substitute green beans for a somewhat different but still delicious texture and taste.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons of preserved mustard (za cai)
3 dried red chili peppers, or to taste
2 cloves garlic
1 bunch (about 1 1/2 lbs) long beans
1 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste

Snap or cut all the ends off of the long beans, then wash and dry them. Slice the beans into 1 to 1 1/2" pieces. Roughly chop the preserved mustard and mince the garlic.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan or wok over medium-high heat. Break the dried red peppers in half and add them to the pan. Throw in the preserved mustard and garlic, and cook until fragrant, stirring frequently to avoid burning the garlic (which turns it bitter and gross).

Add the long beans and cook several minutes until it begins to soften. Mix in the oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice wine, and sugar. Continue cooking until beans are tender but not mushy (but long beans are supposed to be a little chewy so don't judge them by green bean standards). Taste and add salt if necessary. Serve hot with steamed rice and chili garlic sauce.

Cupcake Hero::Banana Roundup - Please Vote!

UPDATE: I didn't win the vote, but CB picked my caramelized banana creme brulee cupcakes as the baker's choice to go up against Christy's PB banana cupcake sandwich. Thanks so much, CB!


The roundup of entries for the banana-themed Cupcake Hero::September is up. Thanks so much to CB of I Heart Cuppycakes for bringing Cupcake Hero back! VOTING IS OPEN from now through September 21st @ 11:59pm EST. CB will then have a throwdown.


My entries were Chocolate-Filled Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Mousse Frosting and Caramelized Banana Creme Brulee Cupcakes. Please visit I Heart Cuppycakes to drool over, um I mean, to check out all the entries and to vote vote vote for your favorites! May the best banana cupcake win! =D

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting (Cupcake Hero)

UPDATE: The Cupcake Hero::September roundup is up! Please go check out all the entries and VOTE for your favorite!

Can I let you in on a little secret? Although this blog seems to be raining them lately, I didn’t always love cupcakes. Quite the opposite. This girl who prides herself on being a non-snobby foodie used to thumb her nose at all that cutesy-ness (all the while concealing a soft spot for those fluffy swirls of frosting). Ironically that frosting was also the source of my aversion.

Until I started doing my own baking, the frosting I encountered was mostly greasy and nauseatingly sweet. To me, a cupcake was just a pretty, overpriced face disguising a pile of butter+sugar paste. But inspired by countless blogs over the last few years, I discovered truly scrumptious frostings, including cream cheese whipped cream, ganache, and swiss meringue buttercream. That issue resolved, it was only a matter of time before the adorably portable and portion-controlled (ha!) cupcake won me over...and I began entering cupcake contests (see the natural progression?).

These delicate cakes wouldn't show off their insides willingly.
The struggle was intense, the spoils beyond delicious!

So without further ado, I present to you my second entry to Cupcake Hero::September. These are chocolate-filled banana cupcakes with peanut butter mousse frosting that's just sweet enough. Quite a mouthful! Really they could just be called “scrumptious” or “sexy” and it’d be just as accurate. But if you make these (and I insist that you do!), do yourself a favor and have a glass of milk or coffee close-by. Enjoy!


Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Filling and Peanut Butter Frosting
[Printable Recipe]
Cake adapted from Evil Shenanigans (Love that blog title!)
Frosting from Maple N' Cornbread
Makes 12 cupcakes

1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used 1/3 cup yogurt and 3 tablespoons milk)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Filling (Recipe below)
Peanut Butter Mousse Frosting (Recipe below)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a standard muffin pan with paper liners. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and set aside. Peel your ripe banana and mash it very well until there are no large chunks remaining. Add the buttermilk to the bananas, mix well, and set aside.

Using an electric or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and then the vanilla, mixing well after each addition. Add half of the flour mixture, the banana mixture, then the rest of the dry ingredients.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full (I like to use my large cookie scoop for this). Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 25 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cool, cut a cone in each cupcake and spoon in 2-3 teaspoons of the chocolate filling. Replace the cone and frost as desired (I used an Ateco 808 tip).


Chocolate Filling
1/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Combine the chocolate chips and cream in a medium, microwave-safe bowl. Try to submerge the chocolate as much as possible, but it's okay to have some above the cream. Microwave the mixture on medium for 1 minute. Stir and heat again in 15-second increments, stirring each time, until fully melted. Let this cool and thicken (in the fridge if needed) before using.

Peanut Butter Mousse Frosting
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 to 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

Place the butter and peanut butter in a bowl. Whip with electric beaters on low until mixed. Add the remaining ingredients, beating on high speed for 2-3 minutes until light and very fluffy.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cream Cheese Syrup

My partner-in-crime and food-taster-in-chief, Patrick, has a job that gives him Thursday and Friday off instead of the regular weekend. This makes Wednesday night great, of course. But he's often a little down on Friday, as he anticipates entering the work week before everyone else. The least I could do to start things off right was a surprise of homemade pancakes for breakfast.

One thing you gotta know about me is that I hate waste, especially relating to food and during this economic downturn. (It's probably got somethin' to do with my Chinese upbringing that emphasized not wasting even a single grain of rice. There's even a poem about this -- no joke.) So no surprise that I chose pumpkin pancakes to use up the pumpkin puree and cream cheese frosting left over from cupcakes I made earlier.


This recipe produces fluffy yet moist pancakes with a pumpkin flavor that really shines through. And cayenne powder (just a pinch or 2) has become a regular in my spicy sweets ever since I made those ginger cookies. But the kicker has got to be the syrup. The tanginess of cream cheese, milky richness of sweetened condensed milk, and decadent creaminess of both. My breakfasts don't usually sound so much like dessert, but with the colder weather upon us, I don't mind this indulgence one bit.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cream Cheese Syrup [Printable Recipe]
Adapted from Martha Stewart via Baking and Books
Makes about 8 4-inch pancakes

XIAOLU'S NOTE: To save time in the morning, you can separately mix the dry and wet ingredients the night before. The next morning, just let the wet mixture warm up for a bit. Then combine with the dry mixture and cook as directed below.

Pancakes
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon wheat germ
(I forgot to add this but I'm sure it adds great texture and nutty flavor)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of cayenne powder
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (I used canned)
1 cup buttermilk (I substituted 1% milk plus 1 teaspoon vinegar)
vegetable oil for the pan

Cream Cheese Syrup
3/4 cup cream cheese frosting (any kind but I used extra from this recipe)
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk, or more to taste

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, wheat germ, baking power, baking soda, and spices. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the egg until thoroughly combined, then add the oil, molasses, sugar, pumpkin, and buttermilk. (Cover and refrigerate the liquid mixture at this point if making ahead.) Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk gently until the batter is mostly mixed but still contains small lumps. Let batter rest while pan heats, at least 5 minutes.


XIAOLU'S NOTE: My gas stoves always run hot, so I never turn the heat above medium and more often than not, it's lower than that.

Heat non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add a few drops of oil and spread it over the bottom of the pan. Pour pancake batter onto hot griddle approximately 1/4 cup at a time. When the edges start to dry and bubbles appear on top, flip to cook the other side. Keep pancakes warm in an oven heated to 275 degrees as you repeat the process to cook the rest of the batter.

To make the syrup, simply mix all the ingredients together until smooth. You can play around with the proportions to get the perfect sweetness/thickness for you.

Gluten-free Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease. For those who may not know, it's a genetic autoimmune disorder of the small intestine caused by a reaction to a gluten protein found primarily in wheat, rye, and barley (but also, in smaller amounts, in oats and spelt) (Wikipedia). Symptoms of this can include diarrhea, malnutrition, bloating, and fatigue.

Many of us have only recently heard about Celiac disease (and many still haven't), but it's by no means a new or rare disorder. Approximately 1 in 133 people in America suffer from Celiac disease according to this article. Yet Shauna of Gluten-Free Girl writes that only about 3% of those have been diagnosed. That's a big problem since, left untreated, it can do very serious damage to your body. And the only treatment that works is to cut gluten out of your diet completely and permanently. Fortunately, awareness of Celiac and other types of wheat sensitivity is growing. Especially through the internet, there's now a wide variety of gluten-free (GF) products, information, and support available.


Now all of this comes back to my friend, whose birthday was last week. See, she'd requested pumpkin cupcakes months ago. But that was before her diagnosis. My old (all purpose flour) recipe was no good now! Luckily, this recipe was only a Google search away. These cuppin' cakes rose really well and tasted surprisingly good. The bean flours in the GF mix I used did leave a slight aftertaste though, so next time I'll play around with making a bean-free mix.

Gluten-free Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
[Printable Recipe]
Adapted from Simply Recipes
Makes 16-17 cupcakes

XIAOLU'S NOTE: I omitted the raisins and nuts called and STILL got 1 more cupcake than Elise said I would. Either my wrappers are tiny, or you should expect to get at least 20.

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp honey
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin purée
2 cups Bob's Red Mill's gluten-free flour
(I replaced 1/4 cup with tapioca starch to try to minimize the "beany" taste as much as possible but Elise used all GF mix)
1 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional, but recommended on the GF flour package)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice (1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest)
1/2 cup buttermilk (see note below)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (omitted)
1 cup raisins (omitted)
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup maple syrup (I only used 1 Tbsp cause that's all I had)
1 cup confectioner's powdered sugar, sifted

ELISE'S NOTE: To make your own buttermilk, combine 1/2 cup of milk with 1/2 Tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice. Stir and let stand 10 minutes before using.

Preheat oven to 350°F, and place rack in the center of the oven.

Cupcakes
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses and honey, until as light and fluffy as it will be, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the pumpkin purée and vanilla and beat until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the pumpkin batter, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.


Set paper cupcake holders in a muffin tin. Spoon the batter into the cupcake paper cups, close to the top of the cups. Bake approximately 18 minutes (mine took exactly 22 minutes), or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
Using an electric mixer, mix together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add maple syrup and confectioners' sugar and mix to combine. Once cupcakes have cooled, apply frosting.