Irish Cream Mocha Fudge

Happy belated St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

I would have liked to post this before the holiday, but this past week really got away from me!

I made this fudge on Friday night for a party we went to yesterday in NYC.

In the spirit of starting festivities early, some of Mr. Vittles' friends hosted a brunch... in their amazing apartment that has not one but three decks.  It turned out to be a beautiful day, so we were able to spend a lot of time outside.

But since we wanted to take the train into New York, which takes about an hour & 45 minutes from our house, we had to be on the train by 7:50AM.

Usually on a Saturday morning, I am not even awake yet at that time.   (I get up at 6:15AM on weekdays for work though - don't worry, I'm not a total bum).  And to make matters worse, I overslept because I set my alarm incorrectly, so I was rushing and had no time for coffee or food.  The foggy weather here yesterday morning was not helping me pep up, either.  So I would have liked nothing more than to take a little nap on the way up to NYC... but I quickly found out that was not in the cards.

The train was filled with young (mostly college-aged) people, all decked out in green, I guess heading into the city for the St. Patrick's Day parade.  NJ Transit allows people to drink on the train, so they were already getting rowdy.  About twenty minutes into the trip it was already standing-room only.  On our particular car, there was a girl who was apparently having a birthday, and we must have heard the song "Happy Birthday" about ten times over the duration of the trip.  Not to mention other songs ("99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall"), various screams and chants, and also lots of banging on the roof of the train car.

My dad warned me from experience that the "drunk train" was going to be interesting.  But we were expecting that to be at night, not at 8 in the morning.

Surprisingly the train ride home around 5PM was much calmer.  I think at that point people were exhausted from drinking all day and ready for a nap.  Luckily, that early in the evening we were with either the lightweights or the smart people who had enough sense to call it quits - not the heavyweights, or ones that were forced by their friends to rally for the good of the group, and would likely end up spending more time in the bathroom than their seats.

If they even made it that far.

...

Yucky.

So anyway, St. Patty's Day is not one of my favorite holidays (mainly for the above reasons).  But we had a great time at the party, and hopefully everyone enjoyed the fudge.

It has loads of sugar, so it at least got the Mr. Vittles seal of approval!

Irish Cream Mocha Fudge

• 1/3 C. Irish cream (such as Bailey's)
• 1 T. instant coffee granules
• 3/4 C. (1 1/2 sticks) butter
• 1 7-oz. jar marshmallow cream
• 3 C. sugar
• 1/2 C. evaporated milk
• 1 12-oz. bag milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• dash salt
• 1 t. vanilla

Line a 9x13" pan with foil, and grease with nonstick cooking spray.  Combine milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips with salt in a large heatproof bowl & set aside.

Combine Irish cream with instant coffee in a small, microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup.  Microwave 20 seconds (more if needed) and stir to dissolve coffee granules.  Set aside.

In large saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, marshmallow creme, sugar, and evaporated milk, stirring until melted.  Slowly add irish cream mixture and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.  (Reduce heat if mixture starts to burn).

Pour mixture over chocolate chips, and add vanilla.  Stir until mixture is smooth and creamy.  Pour into prepared pan and smooth evenly to sides.  Let chill in refrigerator until set, then cut into 1" squares.  Can be kept at room temperature, or in refrigerator if desired.  Makes one 9x13 pan of fudge.

Recipe Adapted from Justapinch.com

Take 5 Brownies

Yep, you saw right.  Take 5 Brownies.

Right now you're probably wondering.... where have these been all my life?

And also... how many of these can I eat without having to incorporate stretchy pants into my holiday wardrobe?

Or, um, maybe that's just me?

But since Take 5 bars are one of my favorite candies, I've had this idea brewing for a while.  

And this is not my first attempt.

Round 1 was largely disappointing.  It used cake mix bars instead of brownies, and incorporated peanut butter chips and peanut butter cups.  Which you'd think would be better, because let's face it who doesn't love a Reese's cup?  But honestly they just got lost in all the mess of caramel and chocolate.

I still brought the bars to Thanksgiving, and overall people seemed to like them, but I was not impressed.  

They were sooo much better in my mind than in reality.

(Ugh.  HATE that.)

I knew I could do better.

So it was back to the cutting board, if you will - and Round 2 was infinitely times better.

I'm only sad that I made them to take to a party and not to eat the whole pan.

By myself.

In one sitting.

Then again, since Cardiac Arrest was not on my Christmas list this year, perhaps it's all for the best?

Take Five Brownies

• 1 box (family-sized for 9x13 pan) milk chocolate brownie mix
• 1 C. crunchy peanut butter
• 2/3 C. powdered sugar
•  1 1/2 C. ‘snaps’ or waffle pretzels (approximate- you may need a few more or less)
• 1 C. milk chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
• 1/2 C. butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 C. light brown sugar
• 6 T. light corn syrup
• 2 T. heavy cream
• 1/2 t. pure vanilla extract

Bake milk chocolate brownies as directed on box in a 9x13 pan.  Allow to cool completely, then combine crunchy peanut butter with powdered sugar in a large bowl.  Beat until combined, then spread evenly over cooled brownies.

Arrange pretzels over top of peanut butter in a single layer.  Sprinkle milk chocolate chips over top of pretzels and set aside.

Prepare caramel topping: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and heavy cream.  Bring to a boil and stir, making sure all sugar is dissolved.  Stir 5-10 minutes more, until caramel is thick & bubbly (about 230 degrees on a candy thermometer).  Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and pour caramel evenly over brownies.  Run the tip of a knife or the back of a spoon over the top in swirl patterns to create a design.  Refrigerate pan for about 1 hour to set.  Then remove brownies by lifting foil, and cut into bars.

Note: These are rich, so in this case less is more. I’d cut 4 columns down the short end, and 8 rows down the long end to make 32 bars.  Also, I like to cut the edges off first – totally optional, but it makes the bars look nicer!

Original Recipe; Caramel Topping recipe adapted from What’s Gaby Cooking 

Milk Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Sometimes I wonder if famous chefs and bakers ever mess up in the kitchen.

Does Martha Stewart ever make a cake and say, "Oops, I forgot the eggs?"

Does Emeril Lagasse ever slice his pork roast and realize its half raw in the middle?

Does Maggie @ Vittles and Bits ever decide to make oatmeal cookies and forget to put the oatmeal in?

Yes... yes she does.

Ok so unfortunately I'm not famous.  But can you believe that I specifically wanted to make oatmeal cookies and almost neglected to put in the main ingredient?

After finishing up mixing the ingredients, I licked some of the batter on the beaters and thought "This batter is awfully buttery."

So I added some extra flour and placed the dough in the refrigerator to chill.

A while later it dawned on me... I had no recollection of opening the canister of oats?

Good to know pre-Christmas baking is off to a glorious start. 

Milk Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 C. + 2 T. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t. salt 
• 1 C. rolled oats
• 3/4 C. milk chocolate chips

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture. Then stir in the oats & chocolate chips.

Chill dough in refrigerator 30 minutes, covered.  Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough 1" apart on a parchment-lined (or nonstick-sprayed) baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

Recipe adapted from SmittenKitchen.com