Roasted Cherry Dark Chocolate Brownies

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Roasted Cherry Dark Chocolate Brownies

Roasted Cherry Bittersweet Brownies

Inspiration can arrive without a moment's notice. Like a lighting bolt illuminating the sky and racing towards the ground, inspiration strikes equally. When I am inspired with a new and unique idea, it hits like a punch to the gut, all-encompassing and demanding attention. True inspiration isn't just a light bulb switching on above your head. It is too powerful. If true inspiration struck, the light bulb would burst into a fireworks display that would light up the night sky.

These brownies were my inspiration.

Roasted Cherry Bittersweet Brownies

Rarely am I struck out of the blue with unique and delicious ideas. Chances are you've already eaten most of the recipes I feature on this blog, or a variation thereof. You may not have set out to make them yourself, but I find that it's hard to surprise people with a new take on an old recipe or idea. That's not to say I certainly don't try to keep you on your toes and surprise you once in awhile. I'm just saying it's difficult to re-invent the chocolate chip cookie.

When I got the idea for these brownies, I immediately went to the internet to see if it had been done before and with any luck. There are recipes for dark chocolate brownies, brownies with dried cherries, and brownies with cherry preserves. Combining cherry and dark chocolate certainly isn't a new idea, but no one, as far as I can tell, has ever put roasted cherries in a brownie and decided to share the tale.

Let me tell you, this needs to be remedied as soon as possible.

Roasted Cherry Bittersweet Brownies

Roasted Cherry Dark Chocolate Brownies are like brownies sent down from the dessert gods themselves. The dark chocolate base of these brownies is so unbelievably moist and decadent. As soon as the brownie hits your tongue, it melts into a gooey, chocolaty mess that sticks to the roof of your mouth like a spoonful of peanut butter. When combined with the rich sweetness of caramelized roasted cherries (like in this ice cream), you might feel tears come to your eyes. These really are that good. I would never lie to you about something so serious as a good, quality dessert. These are the best brownies I have ever eaten (and I've eaten some good ones).

No one in my house can get these brownies off of their minds and, several times a day, someone will sneak up with a fork to subtly steal a bite (or ten). You will want a tall glass of milk with these. Oh, and another brownie.

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Baby Sugar Cookies

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Regrettably, I'm still feeling under the weather. I feel a bit like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, with a raincloud over my head and I keep misplacing my head (or tail, as it may be). In addition to losing 5 pounds in the last week (which I will certainly gain back in eating many, many cookies), I've temporarily lost my sense of smell and taste.

Moment of silence.

Now I ask you this: is there anything worse for a food blogger? How am I suppose to share delicious food and decadent desserts with you if I first can't test them out for myself?

Devastating is what this is. Maybe even a little bit ironic.

So today, we're going to try something new. I'm going to ask you to eat with your eyes instead of your taste buds.

My cousin Missy has been expecting a sweet little girl for some time now and she's finally arrived! Congratulations to Missy and Kurt (and new big brother Dylan)!

I can't wait to meet the new baby. Since my brain is always focused on butter and sugar, I wanted to give the new, soon to be very sleep deprived, second-time parents a special treat while they spent some time in the hospital with their new bundle of joy (and something to feed the visiting guests who have come to Ooo and Ahh over the cute baby toes).

Earlier this week, I baked up a batch of baby themed sugar cookies to send their way. I have already shared a couple sugar cookie recipes on this website which you can find here and here. Since I can't think of anything cuter than baby items (I literally squeal over them if I happen upon them in a store), I filled a bunch of pastry bags and quickly set out to decorate them. I used a royal icing to decorate the cookies (recipe below).

If there is enough interest, I would love to do a cookie decorating tutorial for you. Let me know if you'd like to learn!

I hope I've inspired you to try out cookie decorating for yourself! Or, if you know of a baby in the works, a few ideas to use to decorate your own baby themed cookies.

Royal Icing
3 3/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
6 tablespoons water

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water until stiff peaks form, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add food coloring, if desired. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

To thin icing to fill larger areas, use a few drops of water at a time. Remember, a little bit of water goes a long way and it will take a lot of powdered sugar to compensate if you've added too much water.

Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I was younger, I wanted to grow up to be my dad. I looked up to him (literally). Like any child, I wanted to do the daily activities my father did so I could become my own, smaller, version of him. I would pretend to mow the lawn with my miniature, bubble-blowing lawn mower along with him. I helped hand him tools when he set out to fix things. And I would eat the foods that he enjoyed.

My father happened to be a big proponent of chocolate milkshakes. This was his special treat. On long car rides, we would always stop to pick one up from a local fast food joint. On Sunday afternoon drives, we would drink them down while cruising the roads in his little blue Camaro. When it was a really special occasion, we would stop at an ice cream parlor that served up drinks in the big metal cups, which always held more ice cream than I could ever consume. He would somehow finish the milkshake I couldn't squeeze into my stomach.

Chocolate milkshakes were our food.

Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies

My father never liked chocolate malts, which meant that I certainly didn't either. I didn't even have to try them to know I didn't like them—his convictions on the subject were enough for me. To this day, I have yet to sample a chocolate malt. Though, as I've grown older, I've found them more intriguing. What made them pale in comparison to the classic milkshake?

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when I found myself snacking on mini robin egg whoppers that I used to make chocolate nests. Despite the fact that I wasn't supposed to like malted milk (as consuming anything with the word "malt" in it it would be a betrayal to my father's milkshake), I found that I actually enjoyed them. Perhaps too much, as I soon found half the bag to be mysteriously missing. When my father got home from work and surveyed the damage I had done, he had nothing to say on the matter. Instead, he took up the stool next to me, reached into the bag, and tried a few eggs on his own. Turns out he liked them too.

I like to think we both learned something on that day.

Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies

These Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies are a twist on the traditional chocolate chip cookie. While you may not necessarily taste the malted milk powder if you aren't looking for it, it really does gives the cookie something extra—a little panache, if you will. The malted cookie has a greater depth of flavor than you might expect. These cookies bake up flat and can be chewy or crunchy depending on how long you keep them in the oven.

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