Pretzels and chocolate and brown sugar caramel and sea salt and are you drooling yet? Here’s an awesome treat you can whip up in minutes and is just as addictive as the name dictates. Perfect for a snow day treat or something wonderful to crumble on top of vanilla ice cream.

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Crack Bark

Courtesy of Ezra Pound Cake.

Ingredients 

• Thin pretzels, broken into smaller pieces
• 1 cup (8 oz) unsalted buter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups (one 12oz bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line an 11? x 17? jelly roll pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Cover the pan in a layer of broken mini pretzels.
3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter and brown sugar. When the mixture starts to gently simmer and bubble, let it cook that way for 3 minutes. (Don’t stir.)
4. Pour the butter and sugar mixture over the pretzels.
5. Bake for 5 minutes.
6. Place the pan on a cooling rack, and immediately sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top. Wait for about 2 minutes, until the chocolate melts. Grab a spatula, and spread the chocolate over the toffee. Sprinkle with sea salt.
7. Let the toffee cool completely, and break it into pieces. (To speed up the cooling process, you can place the pan of toffee in the refrigerator or freezer.)

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: chocolate, indulge, salty, sweet

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Every time I come home I am expected to do a few things. Make dinner, fix problems on my mom’s iPhone and laptop, etc. Making my mom a lemon drop martini every night is also on the list. I’m happy to do it – playing bartender for my mom has a very fun Christina Crawford feel to it. Making lemon drop inspired cookies is even better.

I tried these weeks ago during a shoot at work and immediately photocopied the recipe for my own use. Finding a really really delicious no-bake treat is hard, in my opinion, and this one is fantastic. Just the right balance of sweet and tart, plus oddly refreshing since they’re chilled. There’s no vodka in them (sadly!) but instead crushed up lemon drop candies, my all-time favorite treat. Be sure to use the rough, cheap drug store-type lemon drops. The kind that make your tongue feel like sandpaper after having too many. Yummy!

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No-Bake Lemon Drops 

Makes 3 dozen treats.

Ingredients 

• 2 cups finely crushed shortbread cookies (about 7 ounces)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ½ cup whole almonds, toasted and finely chopped
• ½ cup finely crushed lemon drop candies
• 2 Tbsp. light-colored corn syrup
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 3 Tbsp. finely crushed lemon drop candies

Directions 

1.) In a large bowl, stir together the crushed cookies, the 1 cup powdered sugar, the almonds, and the ½ cup crushed candies. In a small bowl, stir together corn syrup, milk, and melted butter. Stir the corn syrup mixture into the cookie mixture until well combined.

2. Shape cookie mixture into 1-inch balls. In a small bowl, combine the 1/3 cup powdered sugar and the 1 tablespoon crushed candies. Roll balls in powdered sugar mixture. Place on a large baking sheet or tray.

3. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Roll balls again in powdered sugar mixture just before serving.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: christmas cookies, cookies, indulge, sweet

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Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday and enjoying the day. We had a wonderful dinner and instead of doing some big rich dessert I decided to go simple and refreshing for our finish this year. Sweet and tart cranberry sorbet, a perfectly light and yet festive holiday dessert. This would be divine to also serve on New Year’s Eve, especially if you scoop a few balls and put them at the bottom of a glass, then top with champagne. Cranberry sorbet floats, anyone?

Happy Holidays!

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Cranberry Sorbet

About 1 quart

Based on David Lebovitz’s recipe.

Ingredients

• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup plus ¼ cup water
• 12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
• pinch of salt
• ½ cup orange juice
• 1 Tbsp. orange-flavored liqueur, such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier

Directions

1.) In a medium saucepan, heat the sugar with ½ cup water then add the cranberries and a pinch of salt.

2.) Cover, and cook at a low boil for about 10 minutes, or until the cranberries are completely softened and have burst open.

3.) Remove from heat and let the cranberries sit until room temperature, covered.

4.) Once the cranberries have cooled, puree the cranberries with any liquid and the orange juice, ¼ cup water and the orange-flavored liqueur.

5.) Chill thoroughly then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: christmas, frozen treat, fruit, ice cream, sweet, tart

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For Christmas eve we always try to take things a little easy in my family. Simple dinner, simple fun. Hopefully no tantrums (from the adults, not the kids) and just sitting around enjoying each others presence. Dinner is also a more simple affair, in preparation for the feast that will ensue the next day.

French onion soup is one of those deceptive dishes. It sounds so simple and light – just onions and broth, right? Ohhhh nooo it has to be smothered in bread and cheese and toasted to bubbly, ooey-gooey awesome richness. Served with a nice salad and crusty bread, this is the perfect meal to get you ready for a Christmas day feast.

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French Onion Soup

Based on the recipe from the late, great Gourmet.

Makes 4 dinner-sized servings.

Ingredients 

• 2lb medium onions, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced lengthwise
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2  bay leaves
• ¾ tsp. salt
• ½ stick (¼ cup) unsalted butter
• 2 tsp. all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup dry white wine, such as sauvignon blanc
• 32 oz. (4 cups) reduced-sodium beef stock
• 1½ cups water
• ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• Six ½-inch-thick diagonal slices of baguette
• 1 cup shredded gruyere cheese
• 2 Tbsp. finely grated Parmesan

Directions

1.) Cook onions, thyme, bay leaves, and salt in butter in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, uncovered, stirring frequently, until onions are very soft and deep golden brown, about 45 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in wine and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Stir in broth, water, and pepper and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.

2.) While soup simmers, put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange bread in 1 layer on a large baking sheet and toast, turning over once, until completely dry, about 15 minutes.

3.) Remove bread from oven and preheat broiler. Put crocks in a shallow baking pan. Discard bay leaves and thyme from soup and divide soup among crocks, then float a piece of bread in each

4.) Combine gruyere and parmesan in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over prepared crocks. Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat until cheese is melted and bubbly, 1 to 2 minutes.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: salty, soup, vegetables

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Pistachios are something I have in abundance this time of year. St. Nick always leaves plenty in my stocking and as much as I love the ritual of shelling each nut and chomping away at the salty pistachio inside, I can never seem to get through an entire bag. Enter these cookies.

I fell in love with this method of making cookie dough in the food processor right away. It’s honestly a base dough where the nuts can be interchanged with whatever you like, whether it be pecans, macadamia nuts, cashews, etc.  You could of course go the much easier route here and just buy pre-shelled pistachios which makes these cookies even easier to whip up. Go nuts.

(See what I did there?)

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Pistachio Shortbread 

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

Ingredients 

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1¾ cup flour
• 1 cup shelled, salted pistachios

Directions 

1.) In the bowl of a food processor pulse butter, sugar, vanilla, egg yolk, and honey until smooth. Add flour and pistachios, pulse a few times until dough just comes together.

2.) Divide dough in half. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap and roll into logs. Freeze at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight.

3.) Preheat oven to 325° F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice dough logs into ¼” thin slices and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on pans for 2 minutes and then transfer to wire racks.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: christmas cookies, cookie, sweet

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