Desserts! Lots of Desserts!

I spent a lot of time today shopping with my mom and my friend, Karen, but I also baked four desserts and made a giant pan of macaroni and cheese. Darren and I are getting married Saturday (HOORAY!!), and his mom and stepdad are hosting a BBQ for us tomorrow night. All of this deliciousness is for the BBQ. I didn't do a good job documenting the process, as I was just trying to get the desserts finished in a reasonable amount of time, but I will share the recipes. Here's a peek at the desserts.

At the top is a chocolate chip cookie cake, with mint chocolate brownies in the middle-left, brownies with pecans in the middle-right, and peanut butter chocolate blondies at the bottom (which were covered with chocolate ganache after they cooled). The giant cookie is for Jaydyn, our junior bridesmaid. She will be 13 next week! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAYDYN!! Also, it's a good thing I am a better baker than decorator.

GIANT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE CAKE
(slightly altered from an Emeril recipe)
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup toffee bits
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 16 inch pizza pan.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs, beating well after the addition of each.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix with a whisk. Add to the butter mixture, mixing to incorporate, and add the vanilla extract. Fold in the chips and chunks. Spread across the bottom of the prepared pan, leaving ~3-4 inches for the cookie to spread, and bake until the edges are golden and the cookie is set but the center is still slightly soft, 20 to 25 minutes.

(before baking)

AMPED UP STUDY AVOIDANCE BROWNIES

(My friend Amanda used to make the original study avoidance brownies when we were working on physics lab reports in college. Thanks for the original recipe, Amanda! I have altered it over the years.)

3 squares unsweetened bakers chocolate
¾ stick of butter
¼ c. + 1 T. firmly packed brown sugar
½ c. + 2 T. white sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
½ c. + 1 - 2 T. flour
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. chopped nuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8” x 8” pan with butter.
1. Melt butter and chocolate in double boiler or over low heat in a heavy sauce pan stirring to blend. Allow to cool.
2. Add sugars to butter-chocolate mixture and mix well.
3. Beat eggs and add beaten eggs to chocolate mixture. Mix well.
4. Add vanilla and mix.
5. Fold in flour until blended. Mixture will be thick.
6. Add chips or nuts, if using.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
**For mint chocolate brownies, add 1 - 2 t. peppermint extract and replace nuts with mint pieces (Junior Mints, York Premier, or Andes chips).

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP BLONDIES
(I altered this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, who I believe altered it from some other source.)

For brownies:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cups sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cups all-purpose flour
1 chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)
For ganache:
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (semisweet or bitter sweet)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
Make brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in middle. Butter an 8-by-8 inch baking pan.
Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until mixture is light and fluffy, then add peanut butter and beat until incorporated. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Reduce mixer sped to low, then mix in flour until just combined. Mix in chocolate chips then spread batter in baking pan, smoothing top. (It will be thick, almost like cookie batter.)

Bake until brownies are deep golden, puffed on top and a wooden pick inserted in center come out with some crumbs adhering, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

Make ganache: Put chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate chips and let mixture stand for one minute. Gently whisk in butter until it is incorporated, chocolate is melted, and a smooth mixture forms. Spread ganache on cooled brownies and let stand until set, about 15 minutes.