Cran-Raspberry Cookie Sticks with Dark Chocolate Chunks

The name is lame. I need a better one to describe this chewy black raspberry perfumed treat loaded with raspberry flavored cranberries and dark chocolate chips. I’m out of ideas today and sadly out of cookies.

This cookie came to be because I’d left out my Chambord after making watermelon pops. It feels like I make a lot of cookies with this favorite black raspberry liqueur. I can't help it. I love the way it perfumes dough and works as a beautiful extract.

After college I worked in a bar for awhile and began my crash course in the different alcohols and how they worked together in cocktails. Recipes really. At some point I realized if they work in drinks why not in food? In baking? In ice cream? In popsicles? Alcohol and liquors add a dimension to all of these things and it doesn’t take much.

Speaking of recipes, I collected an armful of Redroot Pigweed from the organic farm yesterday. We were hoeing it out of a field to plant the last batch of carrots when Professor Jodi told me pigweed is edible. (That's my shadow on the left taking pictures and Jodi's on the right filling my brain with pigweed facts.)

Jodi said pigweed comes from the Amaranth family so I’m figuring it has to be safe. It has a slightly bitter scent that reminds me of red leaf lettuce, but I have no idea what I’m going to do with it.

Do you have any recipe suggestions for pigweed? I’d like to do something creative and fun with it. I might not get another chance at organic pigweed plants. Although I bet my neighbors and friends would gladly share their heavily sprayed ones!


Cran-Raspberry Cookie Sticks with Dark Chocolate Chunks

Printer Version

The Chambord perfumes the dough but you can skip it if you prefer, they won’t be quite the same but should still be good.

1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup cran-raspberries (found in the bulk section)
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tablespoon Chambord liqueur (black raspberry liqueur)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup all purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8”x 8” baking pan with foil.

2. Toss together 1 tablespoon flour, chocolate chips and cran-raspberries. Set aside.

3. In a mixer beat together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg, Chambord, vanilla extract and salt until well mixed. Mix in the baking soda then add 1 cup of flour and beat until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chips and cran-raspberries.

4. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes or until lightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Cool in the pan.

5. For easy cutting: Freeze bars in the pan for 25 to 30 minutes. Lift cookies out by the foil and gently peel off foil. Place cookies on a cutting board. With a large sharp knife cut the square in half, and then cut each half into 8 strips.

Makes 16 cookie sticks.

Recipe & photograph by Laura Flowers.

Disappearing Marshmallow Brownies?

I don't know how this blondie recipe came to be called a brownie, but I do know they're chewy and decadent. They're also kind of ugly by nature as the dissolving marshmallows leave a few craters.

You know the song “If You Wanna Be Happy”, by Jimmy Soul? The one where he tells you to get an ugly wife. These brownie-blondies are exactly that. Not pretty, but they’ll sure make you happy!

I cut the bars into diamonds by slicing them into strips the long way, and then cut them diagonally across the strips. This left me with lots of gooey, chewy, buttery little ends. At this point I was compelled to make a big pot of coffee to enjoy the discards all by myself.

Discarded ends don’t count for calories anyway, right?

Disappearing Marshmallow Brownies
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup butterscotch chips
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

2. Using a microwave-safe bowl, melt the butterscotch chips and butter together in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth. Set aside to cool.

3. In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the melted butterscotch chips, then the flour, baking powder, and salt until smooth. Stir in the marshmallows and chocolate chips last. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking pan.

4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in preheated oven. Cool, and cut into squares or diamonds.

Notes: I line my pan with foil before greasing. Once the bars are cool I freeze them for about 30 minutes and then lift them out of the pan by the foil for easier cutting.

Recipe submitted by Maryl to Allrecipes.com. Picture by Laura Flowers.