Tag Archives: dessert

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Brown Sugar Cinnamon Bars with Bourbon

Oh, my sweet Helen of Troy… these bars are absolutely amazing! Ok, they don’t include wine, but my version *does* include Bourbon. 😉

I found two fantastic recipes… one by Jenna of Butternut Bakery (https://butternutbakeryblog.com/brown-sugar-cinnamon-pop-tart-shortbread/ and one by Cooking with Karli (https://cookiesfordays.com/brown-sugar-cinnamon-poptart-bars/) and decided to play with each to create something a little different with a delicious hint of bourbon.

The original recipes are both wonderful and I highly recommend trying them (and giving both accounts a follow) but here’s how I made the recipe pictured here:

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Bars with Bourbon

INGREDIENTS:

SHORTBREAD CRUST:
1 cup softened butter (I use unsalted)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 Tablespoon Bourbon vanilla extract (can sub traditional vanilla if desired)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

BROWN SUGAR CINNAMON FILLING:
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon flour
1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon Bourbon vanilla extract (can sub traditional vanilla if desired)
dash salt

BOURBON CINNAMON ICING:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Bourbon vanilla extract (can sub traditional vanilla if desired)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 teaspoons water

INSTRUCTIONS:

MAKE SHORTBREAD CRUST:

Preheat oven to 350* F. Draw an outline of a 9×9 pan on a piece of parchment paper, flip it over, and lay it aside. Line 9×9 pan with a second piece of parchment paper.

Cream together softened butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add your extract of choice and mix until fully incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.

Add flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix until combined.

Take half the dough and press it onto the backside of the original piece of parchment paper using a third piece of parchment paper. I find it easier to press with my hands at first, then use the flat bottom of a 1/2 cup measuring cup to get the dough completely to the edge markings on the parchment. This will end up being your “top” piece of the bar. Once the dough is uniformly covering the outlined square, carefully remove that third piece of parchment paper.

Press the second half of the dough to cover the bottom of the 9×9 pan, utilizing the third piece of parchment paper. As above, I first press the dough with my hands then use the flat bottom of a 1/2 cup measuring cup to evenly distribute the dough.

Par-bake the base of your crust in the middle of your oven for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool while you make the filling. If you’ve already jumped ahead and made your filling (like I did in the top right-hand photo), let the base cool for 3-5 minutes so the filling doesn’t immediately turn to liquid when spread onto the par-baked crust.

MAKE CINNAMON FILLING:

Add all filling ingredients together in a small bowl and mix until combined.

Spread filling quickly and carefully over the slightly cooled crust, making sure to cover all surface area.

ADD TOP LAYER OF SHORTBREAD:

Pick up the first layer of shortbread you pressed into a square on the parchment paper and carefully flip it over to exactly cover the bottom crust. Gently remove the parchment from the crust and pat it into place, covering the filling.

BAKE:

Place the assembled bars back into the oven and cook for another 30 minutes. Since oven temperatures vary, check at 25 minutes and remove from oven when the edges are just beginning to brown. Mine took 28 minutes to get to this level of doneness.

Remove from oven and allow to cool thoroughly before adding icing.

MAKE BOURBON CINNAMON ICING:

Combine the icing ingredients together and mix well until smooth.

Pour icing over cooled shortbread and spread evenly over the entire pan.

Cut once cooled and enjoy.

I like to make my bars smaller than some, so I typically cut into 16 bars (as seen above).

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Water Pie with Chardonnay

There’s so much that’s strange about this dessert recipe, but it’s so simple and “goof-proof” that I couldn’t resist sharing it. The original pie recipe is one I found through EasierEats and you can find the “Easiest Ever Crust” recipe on this site: http://jessiesheehanbakes.com

Water Pie is a recipe from the Depression era – take a look at the minimal ingredients list and you’ll understand why. In my effort to turn this effort into a success, I added a few touches that I knew could turn this into a hit.

Since this recipe needs a pie crust, I opted to make the “Easiest Ever Crust” (from Jessie Sheehan Bakes) because I’d always wanted to try it. I was surprised at how well it came together, especially since there was no rolling or pre-baking involved. Take a moment to check out her recipe… I think you’ll be happy with the minimal effort it needs.

Water Pie with Chardonnay

INGREDIENTS:
1 (9-inch) pie crust, unbaked (I used the one mentioned above)
1 1/2 cups water (I substituted 1/4 cup water with 1/4 cup Chardonnay from http://Boordy.com)
4 TBS flour
1 cup sugar (I added 1/4 cup shaved semisweet chocolate)
2 tsp vanilla extract (I used a homemade bourbon vanilla)
5 TBS butter, cut into 5 pieces
Chocolate sauce (I used homemade chocolate sauce)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Set empty pie crust on baking sheet
3. Pour water/Chardonnay mixture into the pie crust
4. In small bowl, mix flour with sugar and shaved chocolate
5. Evenly sprinkle flour/sugar/chocolate over water. DO NOT MIX
6. Drizzle vanilla over water and top with pieces of butter
7. Bake pie for 30 minutes
8. Lower heat to 375 degrees F and continue cooking for 30 minutes
9. Allow pie to cool completely – it will be watery when finished but will gel as it cools.
10. Once cool, chill pie in fridge until ready to serve.
11. To serve, slice and plate, drizzle with chocolate sauce, and top with whipped cream as desired.



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White Butterscotch Wine Bars

I was reading a blog this morning and saw a recipe I wanted to try. It’s one from Mix and Match Mama that she called Butterscotch Beer Bars. I didn’t have any beer open in the house, but I *did* have some Boordy Vineyards Rockfish, a lovely dry white wine that’s made with a blend of Pinot Gris, Albariño, and Seyval Blanc… would that work in this recipe? I decided it was worth trying and began pulling things together.
NOTE: These directions are originally written by Mix and Match Mama but I included my own adjustments and/or changes along the way. I’m sure I’ll be trying her original recipe with Samuel Adams’ Boston Lager soon!

My mise en place, ready to experiment with a recipe using wine

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup butterscotch chips
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 cup + 1 T dry white wine (save 1T for frosting)
  • 1 8oz package of softened cream cheese
  • 2 cups powdered sugar (I used 2 1/4 cups)

INSTRUCTIONS:

  • Preheat oven to 350*
  • Grease a 9×13 baking dish – I lined a 9×13 pan with nonstick foil instead, so I’d be able to more easily transfer the bars out of the pan for frosting later.
  • In a microwaveable bowl, melt butter and butterscotch chips together, stopping to stir every 30 seconds. Once melted, set aside to cool slightly.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with sugar. Once these are well-incorporated, beat in your melted butter/butterscotch mixture and beat well.
  • Add salt to the flour and slowly add into your batter, beating well.
  • Mix in your 1/2 cup wine (I put my mixer on low speed and drizzled it into the batter) just until it’s incorporated.
  • Pour mixture into your prepared baking dish and bake 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Note: Mine took closer to 35 minutes but the original recipe called for 25-30 min.
  • Remove pan from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
  • To make frosting, beat soften cream cheese with powdered sugar and 1T wine with an electric mixer. I needed to add the extra 1/4 cup of powdered sugar so it wasn’t too thin. Mix and Match Mama says you can substitute milk for the alcohol if you prefer.
  • Frost your bars, cut and serve. NOTE: I cut mine into smaller squares and was able to get 32 individual servings (or 16 double-piece servings).
  • Store these in the fridge or freezer.
Adding some Boordy Vineyards Rockfish to the frosting
A lovely little treat… with wine.

My thoughts? I really liked the taste of this bar. It’s dense enough to be called a bar, but lends itself closer to a cake than a cookie. I will need to try this recipe as it’s intended (with beer) but I thought this version was a fun way to use up some of the wine that I find in my fridge from time to time. The recipe didn’t take long to make and came together easily.

I would highly recommend using non-stick foil. It was very easy to remove from the pan, frost, and then place the entire recipe on a baking sheet to pop in the freezer. Once frozen, I will be able to transfer these treats into baggies for gifting later.

Enjoy!

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Landscaper Muffins AKA “Thank You Muffins”

I call these “Thank You Muffins” because I make them to thank anyone who comes to my house – our landscapers, the mulch guys, the electrician, the plumber, the septic guys, and sometimes even our UPS guy! It’s my personal way of letting them all know how much I appreciate the work these people do to make my life easier… and doesn’t everyone like to know they are appreciated?

I’ve been sharing this recipe for years… and I don’t think I’ll be stopping anytime soon. I love having a recipe in my arsenal that uses a short list of ingredients, comes together quickly, and is (in my opinion) fool-proof… this recipe hits every one of those criteria!

Chocolate Thank You Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 box cake mix – I used chocolate cake, but you can use any flavor or brand you like best. Sale brands are great to keep on hand for this recipe.
  • 1 can solid pack pumpkin – I typically buy 10 cans at a time, simply so I am always able to whip up a batch of muffins whenever needed
  • A small handful of Mini chocolate chips – off-brands are fine to use – they play a supporting role in this recipe.
  • A small amount of wine – I use red wine with chocolate, carrot cake, or spice cake muffins…. white wine with yellow cake, or anywhere I don’t want that pink hue to show. This is a great way to use up any “leftover wine”.

DIRECTIONS:

  • Preheat your oven to 375*F
  • Cover two large cookie trays with parchment paper.
  • Put your ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly combined. If using a carrot cake recipe, feel free to let the mixture rest a little to allow the dehydrated carrots to plump a bit… it’s not necessary, but can help as you’re doling the mixture onto trays.
  • Scoop mixture onto cookie trays using a small cookie scoop. NOTE: I use the smallest cookie scoop from Pampered Chef, but will occasionally use the medium sized cookie scoop. The only difference will be in your cooking time and the number of muffin balls you can make. If I use the smallest scoop, I can make approximately 25 muffin balls/tray. Using the medium scoop only allows me to make approximately 18 muffin balls/tray.
  • Bake muffins in preheated 375* oven for 15-18 minutes (18-22 min for medium muffins).
  • Remove and allow to cool – I pull the muffins/parchment off the tray so the bottoms of the muffins don’t continue to cook.

Here are some photos of the process:

A “large” example of a “handful” of chips.
The dry red wine I used for these muffins: @BoordyVineyards South Mountain Red
Scooping the muffin mixture onto a prepared tray, using the small scoop
Two trays of Thank You muffins go into the oven

Another alternative is to make this recipe into full-sized muffins, using a muffin tin, or even baking it in a 9×13 baking pan and cutting into pieces. The recipe itself is incredibly adaptable, but your baking times will need to be adjusted. I love having bites of cake to share with people, so this is my personal preference.

I hope you find this recipe helpful. I have written it down a few different times and have made many different versions, all of which have been delicious. Feel free to message me here, or on my FromTheBottomOfAWineBottle Facebook page, if you have any questions!

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Cookie for one?

Recently, I found a recipe I had saved for a “single-serve cookie”.  Is this even a thing that people do?  I typically make a double batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, so that I’m able to whip up a batch of cookies in 15 minutes, if we’re expecting visitors or workers (roofers, plumber, electrician, the ADT guy… etc).  I’d never even considered making a single cookie, but I was intrigued.  I was also curious to see if I could make one with a little wine added… because, why not… #amIright?

SingleServeCookie

I have to confess that I was impressed with the final result.  It didn’t have quite the same consistency as I’d like for a traditional chocolate chip cookie, but it was certainly easy and tasty.  Let me know if you ever decide to try this option.  I’d like to add a little scoop of vanilla ice cream, but otherwise, this recipe was one that I’ll definitely keep in my back pocket for time when I just need one cookie.  Enjoy!

NOTE: if you don’t want to add wine, just leave it out and increase the vanilla.

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon butter, melted

1 Tablespoon white sugar

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla (2 drops)

1/4 teaspoon red wine (2 drops)

pinch salt

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup flour

2 Tablespoons mini chocolate chips (it may sound weird, but I’d actually use less)

Directions:

  1. Mix all ingredients together and spoon into a microwave-safe ramekin bowl.
  2. Microwave 60-90 seconds.
  3. Top with ice cream or eat straight out of the bowl.

Easy Peasy!  Now, you’re never more than 5 minutes from having a fresh chocolate chip cookie… and that’s not a bad thing, right?

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White Cream Puffs

This recipe is one that has been used in my family for as long as I can remember.  As a child, my mom would make these cream puffs for her bridge club nights.  She’d make the cream puffs, cut off the tops and fill them with vanilla ice cream, then frost them with some chocolate before serving them to her honored guests.  Occasionally, we’d be given one of these treats before the ladies arrived and they always looked so incredibly elegant.  What a gift to find out, years later, that this was a simple recipe that I could share with my own guests… and now I get to share that gift with you!WhiteCreamPuffs

Ingredients:

  • 1 cups boiling water (I like to use 2/3 cup water and 1/3 cup white wine)
  • 1/2 cup butter (don’t skimp… butter is the only way to go here)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 4 eggs

Directions:

  1. In a heavy saucepan, combine the water/wine with the butter and bring to a boil.  Once melted and fully boiling, add the flour/salt at once and stir, beating vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough is smooth.
  2. Remove from heat and add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.  Drop by teaspoons onto 2 greased cookie sheets (or baking sheets lined with parchment), shaping dough to peak in center and round out on the bottom.  Place dough 2″ apart.
  3. Bake in preheated 375* oven for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350*  and bake for an additional 25 minutes.  Cool and fill.  Freeze or use immediately.

These cream puffs make a lovely dessert – slice off the top of the puff, fill with softened ice cream and replace the top, then frost with a bit of chocolate.  My Red Fudge Sauce is fabulous with this dessert (as seen in the photo), but you can use whatever sauce you like best.

Another alternative would be to fill the puffs with a small amount of my Nutty Chicken Salad and serve for a fancy luncheon. You are only limited by your imagination when it comes to using these cream puffs!  Enjoy!

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Aunt Louise’s Blueberry Cream Pie (with wine)

I have to say that this is a recipe that was handed down to me by my mother, from her mother’s sister, so the original recipe did not contain wine.  That being said, it wasn’t hard to add a splash of wine so I could include this delicious pie on my blog. It’s simple, yet elegant… and one that most everyone in our family loves to have as the sweet ending to a meal.  It’s definitely not a “low cal” sort of dessert, but it could be made a bit lighter if you’re inclined to tweak things here and there.  For me, it’ll all about recreating a beloved dessert, so I don’t adjust it too much.BlueberryCreamPie (1)

Ingredients:

  • one small package of cream cheese (I’ve been instructed not to use light or non-fat for this dessert)
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 pint (1 cup) heavy whipping cream (again, don’t skimp for calorie sake or the flavor will fall flat)
  • Pie shell – use your favorite, but we found that we like a pre-baked pastry shell more than a graham cracker crust
  • 1/2 can blueberry pie filling
  • 1-2 Tablespoons of white wine (or use lemon juice if you prefer)

Directions:

  • If needed, pre-bake your pastry shell
  • Cream room temperature cream cheese  and add sugar and vanilla, then beat well
  • In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream just until stiff peaks form
  • Fold the cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream with great care
  • Pour into pie shell.
  • Blend wine into the pie filling and top the pie with the blueberry mixture
  • Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

This pie has been on our Easter table for years… it’s also a fabulous addition to any picnic or family gathering.  You can substitute fresh fruit for the pie filling if you prefer…. it’s all about making something that your own family will love. Traditional or not, making food for those you love is the whole idea.  Enjoy!

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Recipe: Brownie-Wine Brittle

I saw a yummy-looking bag of Brownie Brittle at the store recently… and it just seemed to cry out for a wine-makeover.  Since today was a “cook/bake/blog/errand” kind of day, this recipe just called out to me.  I hope you’ll enjoy it!

BrownieBrittle

I started with one box of brownie mix, one egg, red wine, canned pumpkin, creamy peanut butter, and mini chocolate chips.   Using the directions on the back of the brownie mix box as a guideline, I added equal amounts of canned pumpkin and creamy peanut butter along with the egg, then poured in red wine to thin out the entire mix.  I also added a handful of mini chocolate chips, so there would be little nuggets of chocolate throughout the final product.  I was playing with this recipe, so I did a lot of “guestimating” as I mixed this together.

Feel free to mix this in whatever way you’d like – my plan was to make the mixture thin enough to bake and become crispy as it cooled.  Success!  NOTE: I used the pumpkin in place of the oil because it was in my fridge… and I used the small amount of creamy peanut butter to add a hint of nuttiness to the flavor.  Either one could be substituted with applesauce or you could certainly follow the directions and add more wine/water to thin out the mixture.  It’s entirely up to you!

I used the largest baking sheet (with an edge) that I had in my cupboard and lined it with parchment paper so the final product would lift off fairly easily.  I added enough red wine to thin out the mixture (I would have used James River Cellars’ Rad Red if I’d had some open… the bottle I had open was a South African Shiraz Viognier blend, so I used that in this recipe), poured it onto the baking sheet and spread the mixture as thinly as possible, reaching all four corners.

Because I wanted the brownies to end up dry and crispy, I cooked the entire recipe at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.  Once the cooking was finished, I turned off the heat in the oven, opened the oven door and let the brownies dry for about an hour.   I decided to wait until the brownie-wine brittle was cool before I broke it apart into pieces.  It broke up nicely and will be fun to play with when I need a small, fun snack or if I want to do a fancier presentation with a small cookie scoop of frosting with brittle around it, like flower petals.

I’ll probably play with this recipe again and adjust the amounts of ingredients, but feel free to try this at home for your own family.  Being able to re-create something you see in the store is actually fun… and making a treat for your family is the best-ever kind of treat.

Wishing you lots of homemade treats as the holidays draw near…

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Creating a Recipe for a contest… Divine Triple Chocolate Port Wine Cookies

The people who make Fonseca Bin #27 offered up a challenge and I just couldn’t resist.  After all, I’ve been using red wine (alternating between a dry red from James River Cellars Winery OR Fonseca Bin #27 Port wine) in my “standard” chocolate chip cookie recipe for the past 15 years or so… why not write the actual directions down and see if people like it, right?TripleChocolatePortWineCookies

I decided to call the recipe:  Divine Triple Chocolate Port Wine Cookies.  I use chocolate chips in three different sizes and degrees of sweetness, then included Port Wine and a few other “choice” ingredients.  I am deviating from my traditional way of using The Force when I cook and have provided actual directions for this recipe.  It was tough, but I just had to try it.  While my recipe may seem a bit unorthodox, my family and friends seem to find them absolutely divine.  I hope you enjoy them as well.

Divine Tripe Chocolate Port Wine Cookies:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and assemble all ingredients in recipe before you begin.

Start with the following ingredients in your mixing bowl:
1 cup butter crisco
1/2 c white sugar + 1 c brown sugar
1 t salt + 1 t baking soda
2 T Fonseca Bin #27 Port Wine
1 t blood orange balsamic vinegar
1 t dark chili powder
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground ginger
1 t vanilla extract + 1/2 t almond extract
2 eggs (at room temperature)
Cream all ingredients together until well incorporated
Slowly add 2 1/4 c flour and mix well.

Add 1 cup each: mini chocolate chips, regular semi-sweet chocolate chips, and bittersweet chocolate chips.

Using a small cookie scoop, place batter, teaspoon by teaspoon, onto a baking stone. Bake cookies at 375 degrees for 11 minutes (you may need to adjust for your own oven temperature). Allow cookies to sit for a minute on the baking stone before removing to a wire rack to cool.

I like to keep this cookie dough recipe in my fridge so I can make fresh cookies at a moment’s notice, as my boys’ friends can attest. These are wonderfully divine!

If you feel so inclined, please consider voting for my recipe, using this link.  I hope you try this recipe and enjoy making it and sharing it with the ones you love… after all, isn’t that why we cook in the first place?

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Recipe: Raspberry Wine Taffy

What’s a girl to do when her college roommate gives her four bottles of good Raspberry Syrup? Why, create a recipe using the syrup and WINE, of course!

Armed with the fore-mentioned syrup, I decided to play in the kitchen today. I didn’t want to waste the syrup, so I thought I’d make a simple reduction of the syrup and red wine that would drizzle nicely over desserts. While my end product didn’t exactly meet my expectations, it definitely wasn’t a total loss… I ended up with Raspberry Wine Candies!

I decided to start small… I poured 1/2 cup raspberry syrup and 1 cup red wine into a small saute’ pan and allowed this mixture to simmer for awhile. Note: I used Boordy Vineyard’s Chambourcin Merlot for this recipe, but I could have easily used James River Cellars’ Meritage… I just had an extra bottle of the BoRaspberryWineTaffyordy wine and wanted to use it up. I allowed this syrup/wine mixture to simmer for about 30-45 minutes – I wasn’t paying close attention to the clock and I was simply cooking the mixture until it reduced significantly and started to look “thick”.

Once the mixture had cooked down to the look of a heavy syrup, I added a dash of salt and a teaspoon of margarine. I stirred these two additions into the mixture and allowed it to simmer a little longer.

At this point, I probably should have removed it from the stove and used it as a drizzle for pound cake or ice cream. Instead, I continued to cook it until it was even thicker and looked as if a spoon could leave a trail down the center of the pan. I removed the confection from the stove and poured it into the Pyrex measuring cup (as seen in photo) to find that the entire mixture had reduced from 1 1/2 cups of liquid to a scant 1/2 cup of confection. It tasted lovely, but I had no idea what to do with it… so I popped it into the fridge.

An hour in the fridge allowed this recipe to thicken so much that I could manhandle a small spoonful onto a piece of waxed paper and eventually eat it as a soft taffy… hence the recipe’s name. I’ve never intentionally made taffy before, but this is what I thought of when I tasted it.

Next time, I’ll stop cooking this mixture earlier and allow it to cool so it can be used as a flavorful topping for ice cream or pound cake (as I mentioned before)… but maybe not. It’s kind of fun to create something totally unexpected!

Here’s to the unexpected sweetness of life… may we all create more of it to share with others!