coconut almond macaroons

Why: Because I love coconut!

What: For other recipes I've had sweetened coconut around and have been snacking on it here and there. It's just so tasty! I had tons of egg whites left over from the crack pie so I decided to make macaroons. I started looking at recipes online but ended up using the recipe on the bag. My dentist (a very chatty fellow) made the point that the recipe on the packaging is going to be the best because they want it to showcase their product. It was a good recipe, with a few tweaks. I added about 1 extra egg white and I added about 2 tablespoons of almond paste instead of almond extract. Much to my disappointment, it didn't have much almond flavor, needed much more almond paste. They were tasty by themselves but a light drizzle of chocolate made them even better because it broke up the flavor. These would be super simple to convert into a homemade almond joy, one of my favorites. Annnd, best part, these are practically diet treats because there isn't any oil or butter.

My adaptations:

• 1 (14 ounce) package sweetened coconut (5 1/3 cups)
• 2/3 cup sugar (minus 1 tbsp or so)
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 egg whites
• 5 tbsp almond paste, chopped into tiny pieces
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 
  
• 1- Mix coconut, sugar, flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir in vanilla extract, egg whites (recipe says not to whip but I mixed to small peaks, I don't think it made a difference either way) and almond paste until well blended. Drop by tablespoonful (I used cookie scoop lightly packed) onto sprayed parchment paper, MUST SPRAY! Continue to stir as you scoop as the egg whites might settle at bottom of the bowl.
• 2. Bake 325F for 20 minutes or until edges of cookies are golden brown. Leave on pan until cool enough to transfer.
• 3. Melt some semi sweet chocolate in microwave or double boiler (careful not to burn it) and drizzle over top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

crack is whack

Why: Darn you top chef just desserts! I've been bitten by the baking bug again and have been cranking out treats. For our recent vacation I brought pumpkin cinnamon rolls, chex mix, rice kripsy treats, magic layer bars, the previously mentioned pumpkin cake, sugar cookies and on top of all of that, I made this pie. Granted, I made this pie for my husband for his birthday but with all the leftovers I decided that I'd better drop it off at work instead of bring along yet another treat. I don't really recall exactly how I ended up at this recipe but with a name like crack pie and a description of caramel butterscotch goodness - I had to try it.

What: I guess crack just isn't my drug of choice because this pie just didn't really do it for me. Was it tasty? Yes. Did it change my life? Hardly. Is it worth the amount of time and butter? Highly debatable. It did work out that I have tons of egg whites when I want to make macaroons (to come)but really, 8 yolks is a lot. And I had to buy powdered milk just for this recipe. Making the crust, breaking it up and then mixing in butter and whatnot to make the actual crust was a little too labor intensive for me. At the end of the day it tasted like my butterscotch caramel bars but with a lot more time and money involved. And my bars don't require a fork. It's a good idea and concept but I'm going to save my veins (and arteries!) for something better.

Holy tastiness

Why: I buy all the baking magazines around the holiday and cut out recipes and slap them into a binder. I hadn't cracked open the binder in months so I thought it was time to give it a peek. It was between this recipe and a caramel pudding cake but since my husband always leans towards pumpkin, the pumpkin cake it was. I had high hopes but I wasn't expecting the most delicious thing I've baked in a long time.

What: Imagine a pumpkin cake with a caramelized pecan topping. Yeah, it's as good as it sounds. Add some vanilla ice cream and I have just made a new friend for life. I feared that my husband would eat it all so I took most of the cake into work and people officially lost their crap. One person told me that he "lost himself" in it and another gave some to their friend who then offered me a marriage proposal. The best reaction was a coworker who ate 2 slices before he left the office only to call me later in the afternoon and hide him 2 more slices. Now it haunts me, weeks later people still bring it up in regular conversation.