Millionaire's Shortbread

I just returned from a freezing spring break trip to London. While I was not expecting to return from the UK with a tan, I was also not expecting it to snow twice or for all my pictures to be of my eyes peeking out over my thick knitted scarf. Thankfully we were able to stay warm ducking in and out of cafes and the free museums. Because I spent a large portion of my time in London warming my hands on a steaming mug of hot chocolate, I got very familiar with the traditional tea time snacks. Out of all the biscuits, scones, hot cross buns, and pastries I sampled, my favorite by far was the millionaire's shortbread! 

To me, shortbread cookies are delicious as they are. I love the crunch and crumble of shortbread and the slightly sweet, browned butter flavor. But the brilliant Brits have improved upon this simple treat by layering shortbread with caramel and chocolate. These delectable squares are the great grandparents of the Twix candy bar. If you like Twix, you'll love this recipe!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour an 8x8 square pan. Cut the cold stick of butter into cubes.

 

In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the cubes of butter and pulse until the butter is size of peas. Press the shortbread dough into the prepared 8x8 pan.

Bake 20 minutes, until the shortbread is golden brown around the edges. (this is a tad more brown than you want it! No one's perfect.) Set aside and let cool completely. 

Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp butter and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Continue to boil for 15 minutes, until the mixture is thick and caramel colored. 

Pour the caramel over the cooled shortbread. Allow to cool completely. I let mine cool in the fridge while I made the top chocolate layer.

 

Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate, whisking until smooth. Pour over the caramel covered shortbread and let cool at room temperature for 10 minutes. Chill in the fridge until cooled completely.

Do you see those beautiful layers? Crunchy shortbread, sweet caramel, and bitter, smooth chocolate have never looked so good! Cut the shortbread into squares while it is cold. These squares are delicious kept cold in the fridge or softened up a little to room temperature.

Millionaire's Shortbread

recipe by Claire Robinson

Ingredients:

 

1 stick + 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold, divided
1 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk
 6 ounces semi sweet chocolate

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour an 8 x 8 square pan. 

Cut the cold stick of butter into small cubes. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the cubes of butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Press the shortbread dough into the prepared square pan. Bake 20 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Let cool completely.

In a saucepan on medium-low heat, combine the remaining 2 Tbsp unsalted butter and sweetened condensed milk. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking continuously. Continue to boil for 15 minutes, until the mixture is caramel colored and thick. Pour over the cooled shortbread and place in the refrigerator to cool completely. 

Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate, whisking until smooth. Pour over the cooled caramel covered shortbread and let cool at room temperature for 10 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator until completely cool. Cut the shortbread into squares while cold.

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

My official job title in Spain is a Language and Culture Assistant or auxiliar de conversación. I have the best job in the world; earning a living experiencing the Spanish languages and culture. It sounds almost too good to be true, but this is a real job that you can learn more about here. In return for this amazing opportunity, I am expected to share my language and culture with the students and teachers at my school, facilitating an international exchange of ideas. However, thanks to globalization, most aspects of the American culture have already made it overseas. There are few things I share about my home that most Spaniards I meet aren't vaguely familiar with already. This is not the case for food. I'm sad to report that the general opinion of American food is based on McDonald's and KFC menus. I'm not going to launch an anit-fast food campaign over here because it is a big part of American culture and I'd be committing an enormous act of hypocrisy. I think McDonald's french fries are one of the most addicting foods on the planet and Taco Bell Crunchwraps are a work of culinary genius.  

I mentioned in my homemade pumpkin puree post that I take classic American baked goods to school to share with my coworkers and students. This is my way of showing them that we have SO much more to offer than hamburgers and delivery pizzas. It should come as no surprise that my favorite way to experience a foreign culture is through its cuisine, but I get so much more pleasure from telling people about my home through the foods I grew up with and love. With these cookies, I was able to share the traditions of autumn in America, from the holidays, to the pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and hot apple cider! I'm well aware that fall has come and gone, but who doesn't want a cakey, moist reminder of falling leaves and crisp air during the months of dreary, cold winter weather?

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a sheet pan with a Silpat or parchment paper. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars. Add the egg, vanilla, and pumpkin and beat until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Slowly mix into the cookie batter until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Using a cookie scoop or teaspoon, drop the cookies onto the prepared cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes until puffed up and lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

 

 
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients: 
   
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the pumpkin puree and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. With the stand mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop the batter onto a Silpat lined cookie sheet using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes depending on the size of your cookies.

Cheesecake Bars

School birthdays were always something I looked forward to as a kid. Each year I would assume the role of Birthday Queen For the Day, taking homemade cupcakes to my class, bestowing these mom-made culinary jewels upon my loving classmate subjects. Perhaps I took myself a little too seriously! Over the years, my mom has made countless batches of ice cream cone cupcakes topped with Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip frosting. Although she is perfectly capable of whipping up fabulous frostings from scratch, often making up the recipe as she goes, I would beg her to buy this frosting. There's nothing like it. To this day, it is my kryptonite and nothing, NOTHING, can stop me from eating it straight out of the container by the spoonful. For this reason, not my prepackaged food snobbery, I do not buy this frosting more than once a year. I like to fit comfortably into my jeans...

I have a few precious months remaining in my English teaching position in Spain. I teach at a very small elementary school, so when a child has a birthday, the whole school celebrates! The kids bring cakes, soda, chips, cookies, and candy to share with their classmates, the other students, and, luckily for me, the entire teaching staff. Last week, I walked into the teachers lounge to find a "birthday cake" sitting on the table. I use the quotation marks here because birthday cakes in Spain are nothing like the ones I grew up with in the states. Cakes here resemble pound cakes, are only slightly sweet, and are served sans frosting. A teacher told me this particular cake was a cheesecake. He went so far as to say it was a "New York" cheesecake. Well, it wasn't. Not even close. It was a New York cheesecake if you were to add gelatin and remove half the sugar and cream cheese. All this "cheesecake" did was make me miss cheesecake!

Where does one indulge a cheesecake craving in Spain? Nowhere. There is a tapas bar in my town that serves a cheesecake flan. It's tangy and smooth like a cheesecake, but the first bite reveals a pool of deeply sweet caramel syrup typical of a flan. It really is the best of both worlds! However, my craving was so acute, even this delicacy wouldn't satisfy. If I wanted a cheesecake, I'd have to provide for myself. After a quick trip to the store and a raid of a better stocked kitchen than mine for a 9x13 pan, I was ready to whip up a quick and easy ode to the classic American cheesecake. No stand mixer, springform pan, water bath, or hour-long cooking time needed!

I made these cheesecake bars for the first time for a catering event a few years ago. I needed a dessert that could feed a lot of people and could be made ahead of time. I ended up baking several sheet pans of these bars and refrigerating them overnight. They were a hit at the party; easy to slice and, when cut into little squares, easy to eat. Since then, I've baked smaller batches for potlucks or for my own personal enjoyment. Sometimes I share... 

**Note: Allow your cream cheese and eggs to come to room temperature before starting the bars**

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray. If you want to have perfectly cut cheesecake squares, prepare the baking pan as shown by my tutorial here. In a medium mixing bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt. Pour in the melted butter and stir to moisten the crumbs. Press into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of your prepared baking pan and bake for 10 minutes, until the crumbs are lightly browned. Set aside to cool while you prepare the filling.

 

Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, salt, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Pour the batter over the cooled graham cracker crust.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the cheesecake is just set. If you're unsure, insert a knife into the center of the cheesecake. It should come out clean. Allow to cool completely at room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. This will allow the cheesecake to set completely and facilitate easy cutting.

 

Just before serving, remove the cheesecake from the fridge and, if using the parchment paper and tin foil preparation method here, lift the chilled cheesecake from the pan. Cut into squares, wiping the knife clean after each cut. Enjoy your little taste of the classic American cheesecake!

Cheesecake Bars

recipe adapted from joyofbaking,com

Ingredients: 

Crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs, about 13 crackers
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted 

Filling:
2 8oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9x13 in baking dish with cooking spray or line with parchment paper as shown here. 

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt. Pour in the melted butter, stirring to moisten the crumbs. Press the crumb mixture on the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the prepared baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned. Set aside to cool.

Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, salt, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition, Pour the cheesecake filling over the cooled crust. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the cheesecake is just set, wobbling slightly when touched.

Allow to cool completely at room temperature, cover, and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight. Cut into bars just before serving, wiping the knife clean after each slice. Top with berries, chocolate syrup, or whipped cream.

How To: Prepare a Brownie Pan

I included this tutorial for preparing an 8X8 brownie pan in my Mini Cadbury Egg Blondies post, but this tip is so useful I think it deserves its own post. You can use this method for blondies, brownies, and bar cookies. It adds a little more time to your recipe preparation, but I promise it's worth the extra step. No more slicing through brownies while holding your knife at an awkward angle. No wasted, crumbled pieces because the first few brownies are impossible to get out of the pan in one piece! Simply line, lift, slice, and serve.

**You may read this and think, "What a waste of tin foil!" Feel free to reuse the foil more than once. I would not, however reuse the parchment paper. This tip works best on 8X8 pans, but will work well for a 9X9 as well. Any larger and you risk crumbling when lifting out of the pan.** 

Cut an 8x8 square of parchment paper. You can measure using a ruler or simply trace the bottom of your baking dish.

Spray the dish with cooking spray. Lay two long strips of aluminum foil in the pan, forming an X. I tear a long sheet of aluminum foil, cut it in half, then fold each half into thirds. This forms two reinforced strips. Leave a few inches of foil hanging off the sides to create "handles."

Lay the 8x8 parchment paper square over the foil. Spray the parchment with cooking spray. This parchment/foil apparatus will allow you to lift the entire batch of blondies, brownies, or bar cookies out of the pan (after they are baked and cooled), making it very easy to cut them into neat, even squares.

When cool, use the aluminum foil "handles" to lift blondies, bar cookies, or brownies out of the pan.

Transfer to a cutting board to slice...and sample:)

Peanut Butter Cup Cake

This is NOT a cupcake. I wrestled with the title of this post, because this cake needs to bear the name of my absolute favorite food in the world - the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. This is a peanut butter cup...wait for it...cake. Not a peanut butter cupcake. Now, onto the recipe!

When dreaming up this cake, I wanted to use my favorite Cocoa Frosting and stay true to a peanut butter cup: luscious peanut butter coated with creamy chocolate. Thus, this variation on basic yellow cake was born, Peanut Butter Layer Cake. Naturally, I had to add peanut butter cup pieces to the cake as well. When I tried the cake the first time, there just was not enough peanut butter flavor to compliment the chocolate frosting. How did I fix this? I added more frosting! Is there such a thing as too much frosting? My Peanut Butter Cream Frosting brings all the flavors in the cake together in the perfect balance of peanut butter and chocolate, inspired by the masterfully crafted Reeses Peanut Butter Cup! I´ve said this before and will say it again- HOW can they not sell these in Europe?

After the Peanut Butter Layer Cake has cooled completely, place one layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread with a generous layer of Cocoa Frosting.

 

Roughly chop a dozen mini peanut butter cups.

Scatter the pieces on top of the frosted cake layer.

Top with the second cake layer and frost with remaining Cocoa Frosting. Dump the frosting on top of the cake, then gradually work your way outward, smoothing the frosting toward the edges and down the sides of the cake with an uneven spatula.
 

If you want a polished final product, dip the spatula in hot water and run along the sides of the cake to smooth the frosting. This step is purely aesthetic. The cake will taste the same either way!
 

Chop a few more peanut butter cups and scatter on top of the frosted cake. 

Prepare a piping bag (or resealable plastic bag with a corner cut off) and fill with the Peanut Butter Cream Frosting. 

Pipe the frosting as desired on the top and around the base of the cake. Piping frosting around the base of a cake is a great way to hide mistakes and little imperfections at the base of a cake. The professionals do it too!

 

Cut into the cake and share Reeses peanut butter chocolate perfection with your family and friends!

Peanut Butter Cream Frosting

I have discovered something truly shocking during my time abroad. Spaniards think peanut butter is gross! It seems they more than dislike it. I know I'm making a generalization here as I have not met the entire country, but on a few instances I have gotten this impression. I was presenting to the 5th grade class about food in America and was explaining how we are all raised on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They asked what the PB&J stands for and when I told them peanut butter, crema de cacahuete, they wrinkled their noses in disgust! Another time I generously offered a Reese's peanut butter cup to a friend and he declined because of the peanut butter. This is one cultural difference I can not understand. 

No matter where in the world I'm living, I will always regard peanut butter as the king of spreads. For me, it reigns over Nutella, Biscoff, cream cheese, and jelly. This frosting pairs perfectly with the Cocoa Frosting and Peanut Butter Layer Cake to make the fabulous, 100% American, Peanut Butter Cup Cake that I will post later next week. Stay tuned and enjoy this recipe in the meantime.

 To make this very quick frosting, make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature.

 

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and peanut butter until smooth and fluffy, 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add powdered sugar. Add the buttermilk 1 Tbsp at a time until desired, spreadable consistency. Beat on high speed for 2-3 minutes. 

Frost cupcakes, spread on graham crackers, or put in a piping bag to create the Peanut Butter Cup Cake! To frost an entire cake, double or triple this recipe.

Peanut Butter Cream Frosting

Recipe by Sweet & Savory

Ingredients:
 
1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup + 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
2 Tbsp buttermilk

Directions:

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and peanut butter together on high speed until smooth, 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating on low speed after each addition until combined. Add the buttermilk 1 Tbsp at a time until the mixture reaches frosting consistency. Beat the frosting for 2-3 minutes on high speed.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Pie

Comfort food has the unique ability to give you a sense of being at home. I love living in Spain, but when the occasional bout of homesickness strikes, nothing makes me feel better faster than a quick skype session with my family, a Diet Coke, and a Reese's peanut butter cup! This week was Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, and the fact that I was not celebrating it with a marathon cooking session with the Macy's Day Parade in the background was a little depressing. I was not alone in missing America on the most gluttonous of holidays. There are many other language assistants in my town that were also faced with the prospect of no Thanksgiving 2012! Since we couldn't sit idly by while our friends and families gorged themselves 4,000 miles away, we decided to have a celebration of our own. This year, the Americans in Orense brought Thanksgiving to Galicia! We crammed 17 people from America, as well as England, Argentina, and Spain, a 17.5 lb turkey, all the comfort food staple side dishes, and four pies into our little European piso and feasted until 1 am! Despite the lack of traditional Thanksgiving ingredients in the supermercado, we were able to successfully recreate green bean casserole, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, creamed corn, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, and the most important, pumpkin pie! Everything was delicious and everything tasted like home. 

My favorite part of Thanksgiving, or any meal for that matter, is dessert. Out of the pies I baked this year, the one that was the least traditional was this Mexican Hot Chocolate Pie. I have expressed my love of all dishes Tex Mex, so it goes without saying that I am a HUGE fan of chocolate with a kick. I love the sensation of tasting the bitterness of dark chocolate followed by a slowly building burn of chili powder. If you have never experienced what I just described, you have got to make this pie!

This pie has a cookie crust. The original recipe calls for gingersnaps, but there were none in the supermercado. Time to improvise! I used these cinnamon cookies instead and the crust was fabulous! So, this cookie crust can be made with either gingersnaps or cinnamon graham crackers. It's up to you!

 

In a food processor, process the cookies until fine crumbs. Alternatively, crush cookies by placing them in a Ziploc bag and smashing them with a rolling pin. Add ginger, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt and process to combine. 

Add the melted butter and stir until the crumbs are moistened.  

Press the crumb mixture firmly in an even layer on the bottom and sides of the pan. Freeze for at least 30 minutes while you prepare the chocolate filling.

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a small saucepan on medium heat, heat the heavy cream until just bubbling around the edges. Chop the chocolate and place in a large bowl. 

Pour the heated cream over the chopped chocolate and let sit for a minute or two. The finer you chop the chocolate, the faster it will melt! Whisk until smooth.

Whisk in the egg. Add the ginger, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and a pinch of salt and whisk until smooth. A pinch of salt is more than you would think. For the purposes of the recipes I post on this blog, a pinch of salt is made from pinching your thumb, pointer finger, and middle finger together to grab a decent amount of salt. Remember, salt brings out sweetness so it's very necessary in dessert recipes!

Pour chocolate mixture into the chilled cookie crust. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the filling is set on the sides, but wobbles slightly in the center. Let cool to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight. 

Just before serving, remove the pie from the refrigerator while you prepare the cinnamon whipped cream. This is the best part! With an electric mixer or wire whisk, whip the cream, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt until soft peaks form.

Spread the whipped cream on top of the pie in an even layer. Cut into the pie, take a bite, agree that spicy dark chocolate is the best flavor in the world, and devour the rest of your slice!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Pie

Recipe adapted from Allison Kave's First Prize Pies 

Ingredients:  

Cookie Crust:

1 3/4 - 2 cups gingersnap or cinnamon graham cracker crumbs

1/8 tsp grated fresh ginger

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

pinch of salt

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Dark Chocolate Filling:

7 oz dark chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1 egg, room temperature

1/8 tsp grated fresh ginger

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

pinch of salt

Cinnamon Whipped Cream:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, cold

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

pinch of salt

Directions:

In a food processor, process cookies until fine crumbs. Add ginger, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt and pulse to combine. With the processor running, add the melted butter in a steady stream until all the crumbs are moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly onto the bottom and sides of a pie tin and freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Finely chop the chocolate and set in a large bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the heavy cream until just bubbling on the edges. Pour the heated cream over the chopped chocolate and let sit 1-2 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in the egg. Add the ginger, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt and whisk until smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture into the chilled cookie crust.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the edges are set and the center is still slightly wobbly. Let cool to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.

Just before serving, remove pie from refrigerator. Using an electric mixer or wire whisk, beat heavy cream, sugar, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt until soft peaks form. Spread in an even layer on top of the pie. Serve immediately.

Nutella Bites

Is there anything better than Nutella? Seriously. I used to think the most divine spreadable food was peanut butter, and while it still holds a very special place in my heart, it was knocked off it's ooey gooey pedestal once I discovered this chocolate, hazelnut counterpart. I love Nutella. I eat it on graham crackers, bananas, over my ice cream....sometimes straight out of the container....don't say you never have!

However, when I'm in the company of other people (hence, it is not appropriate to take my Nutella straight up) I find a more civilized, and very cute, way to eat this chocolatey spread is sealed in pastry. When you combine Nutella and pastry dough, something magical happens. Words won't do it justice, but I'll try. The buttery dough bakes to flaky perfection on the outside while Nutella melts ever so slightly inside the pastry pocket. The end result, buttery pastry with a smooth, gooey chocolate, hazelnut center. This is the perfect way to get your chocolate fix!

This recipe is extremely versatile. I love using equal parts butter and cream cheese in my dough, but you may use your favorite pie dough recipe or store bought pie dough. You can also substitute the Nutella for another filling, like peanut butter, but I've found the peanut butter tends to dry out a little during baking if it's of the crunchy variety. Experiment. Find a filling/dough combination you love! This recipe as I've written it here yields 2 dozen Nutella Bites.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.  

 

Make sure your unsalted butter and cream cheese are at room temperature. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth.

  

In a separate bowl, whisk flour and salt together. Add to butter, cream cheese mixture with the mixer on low speed. Mix until just combined.

 

 

With a rubber spatula, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.  

 

Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and flatten into a disk. Cover with the plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes. 

  

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to 1/8" thickness (think of the height of 2 quarters stacked on top of one another). Using a round biscuit cutter, cut as many rounds as you can from the dough, gathering and re-rolling the scraps to cut more.

 

Assemble the bites in batches. Keep the pastry rounds you're not filling in the fridge. It's important not to allow the butter in the dough to warm to room temperature. This will result in a less flaky dough. If you're not up to baking all the bites in one go, you can store the extra dough, stacked with a little plastic wrap between each layer, in a ziploc bag in your freezer for up to 1 month. 

To assemble the bites, scoop a tiny spoonful (1/2 tsp) of Nutella onto each round. Do not overfill or the Nutella will squeeze out of the sides when you fold the pastry dough in half. Dip your index finger in water and wet the edges of the pastry round. 

Fold pastry round in half, pressing gently with fingers to seal edges together. Using a fork, seal the edges completely. If making the Nutella bites ahead, assemble them to this point, then lay them flat on a cookie sheet and freeze for a few hours. Once they are frozen, you can store them all in a ziploc freezer bag for up to 1 month. When ready to serve, follow the regular baking instructions. 

Place the Nutella bites onto your silpat or parchment lined baking sheet and bake in your preheated oven until the bites are golden brown, 15-18 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly, but not all the way as these are the very best when warm. When ready to serve, dust with powdered sugar.

Nutella Bites 

recipe adapted from foodnetwork.com 

Ingredients: 

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

4 oz cream or neufchatel cheese, room temperature

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

4 Tbsp Nutella, creamy peanut butter, jam, etc

powdered sugar for dusting 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat.

In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk flour and salt together. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to butter, cream cheese mixture until just incorporated. Scrape down sides and bottom of mixing bowl with a rubber spatula. 

Turn dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, flatten into a disc 1 inch thick, and wrap completely in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry dough out to 1/8 inch thick. Using a round biscuit cutter, cut rounds out of the rolled dough, gathering and re-rolling the scraps to make more rounds. 

When assembling the bites, work in batches, keeping the extra pastry dough rounds cold in the fridge. Place 1/2 tsp Nutella on each round. Dip your index finger in some water and wet the edges of the pastry dough round. Fold the dough in half, lightly pinching the edges together to seal. Use a fork to seal the edges of the pastry dough completely.

Bake bites on the prepared baking sheet for 15-18 minutes until golden brown. Let cool slightly, then dust with powdered sugar.