rich little brownies with matcha glaze + a giveaway

as first time guest-bedroom-having humans, we have a rule: whenever someone braves the small planes, long drives, and lack of 4g or l.t.e. or whatever in order to just visit us, we have to be as hospitable as possible. five-star hospitable. so hospitable that they would easily brave the planes, trains, and automobiles all over again to come back for another visit. every pillow must be fluffed, every towel must be warm, every political stance must be taken into account when curating the guest bedroom library. and obbbbbbbbviously, there must be plenty of little welcoming snacks, representing sweet and savory, and addressing any applicable dietary preferences.

so before my pops arrived on monday, we scurried around, cleaning, collecting apples from our backyard, combing through our magazine collection, and putting out these itsy bitsy brownies. like why have a chocolate on your pillow when you can have a chocolate brownie on your pillow?

pops was in and out before you could say sugar beet but we had such a delightful time! we strolled around town and ate many kinds of cake. we ate ribs and roamed around the fields. more on this later...

my point is, if he wasn't my dad and also already in possession of a plane ticket to come back for the wedding, i'm pretty sure that eggboy and i made a very convincing argument that yeah, he totally needs to leave chicago for a few days again and come back soon.

i overlook brownies entirely too often. which is silly because not only are they very good, but also these ones are so quick and easy to make. no softened butter, weird ingredients, or even cooling time necessary. (ok, some might consider matcha a weird ingredient, but it shouldn't be. it's wonderful. i keep one little bag on hand at all times and i rarely need to buy more because a little goes a very long way.) my mom used to make these and instead of matcha, she'd spike the glaze with peppermint schnapps. addicting. they'd never last more than a day. so if you're having a chocolate emergency of medium intensity, meaning you can wait about 45 minutes but no more than an hour, i'd highly recommend these little bites of joy. 

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rich little brownies with matcha glaze

based on my mom's recipe!

makes about 24 little brownies

ingredients

brownies:

1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 c sugar

1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 c butter, melted and slightly cooled

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

glaze:

3 tb butter, melted

1 tb matcha tea powder

1 tb honey

1 tsp vanilla

1 c powdered sugar

clues

preheat oven to 350 and grease and line an 8-inch square pan (or a pan of similar size).

in a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. add the butter, eggs, and vanilla.

pour into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes.

whisk together the glaze ingredients and pour the glaze on while the brownies are still warm. cut into 1 1/2-inch squares. give to all your friends, otherwise you'll eat them all yourself.

-enjoy!

-yeh!

thanks so much to kiss me organics for sponsoring this post! enter to win a bag of their organic matcha tea powder by leaving a comment here or on Facebook with the craziest use for matcha that you can think of! open to u.s. residents only. update: this giveaway is now closed.

secret cake + friday links + a mustard giveaway

eggboy doesn't know it yet, but i have plans to take over the old workshop, the oldest building on the farm. it's home to the most magical natural light, it's heated with a wood stove, and i'm going to nail a sign above the door that says "cake house." i'm going to sit in my cake house all day and listen to opera and make cake, and when i've made too much, i'll erect a big neon sign at the end of our driveway that says "cake, this way" and people driving by can stop in for a slice and a spot of tea. i'll have a wall of sprinkles and a little craft corner where people can make their own cake toppers out of felt and ribbon. it'll be the cutest. there will be a password to get in.

...speaking of passwords and cake, i made secret cake.

it's for a friend's sister who is having a gender reveal party for the tiny human in her belly! the party isn't until tomorrow so i can't tell you the color of the cake or the color of the candy that is going to pour out of it when she and her husband slice it open. but i can tell you that i used a double batch of this delicious velvety cake (and dyed it either pink or blue) to make four 8-inch rounds, cut 4-inch circles out of the centers of two of the cakes using a small coffee can, and then stacked them all up with a bunch of pink or blue candy in the middle. like this. i sealed the sucker off with buttercream, used jordan's tutorial to get those nifty scallops, and topped it with gold sprinkles and felt flags. then i played around with the two leftover 4-inch circles and some cream cheese frosting. i tested out some linda-inspired frosting looks that i've been wanting to try, and settled on a rustic ball of glee, topped with naturally dyed sanding sugar.

i made a huge mess, but as mum always says, a messy kitchen is a happy kitchen.

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friday links!

it's scotch egg porn

i love love lovvvve the new new brooklyn rider album

you know i don't eat bananas, but this banana cake for harry styles is...bananas. file under: inspiration for my mandy patinkin/benedict cumberbatch fangirl cakes.   

this week in tahini and marzipan: pumpkin tahini bread and a plum and marzipan galette. yes!

this is the huckleberry cookbook as outfit inspiration!

"easy" and "laminated," an unlikely pair of words, smooshed together so elegantly with nutella.

hokkaido milk bread, get in my belly.

not that i wouldn't cross the pond just for dessert at st. john bread & wine, but look, we can now have their donuts anywhere.

i can totally spell zwetschgendatschi.

this fried cauliflower ciabatta sandwich reminds me of the schnitzel sandwiches from the schnitzel truck that i used to get all the time. i must make this soon.

and i also must make this carbonara soon. as soon as i find chinese sausage up in this town. 

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lastly, my friend sara from cake over steak is working hard with her brand new husband (!!!) and father-in-law to take their condiment business to the next level!! they've got a kickstarter going and they're giving away a variety pack of goodies to one of you! to enter this giveaway, leave a comment here or on Facebook with your favorite condiment. (open to u.s. residents only!)

update: this giveaway is now closed.

happy weekend everyone!!!

-yeh!

hazelnut cocoa granola bars + a giveaway

my weekend in snacks:

a handful of pistachios: on a solo drive to fargo, accompanied by fred's coverage of the aspen festival. a 2013 me would have dreaded driving by myself to fargo, but i think driving in north dakota might be my new favorite thing. (as long as it's close enough to the border to pick up minnesota public radio.)

cheese curds: covered in ranch and ketchup, at the fargo street fair with some lovely fargo ladies!

raw chocolate (and tahini) fudge: made in a pre-coffee haze and enjoyed while chasing a fly all around the kitchen. calories burned from chasing the fly = calories consumed in the fudge. we are all even now! 

muhammara: on a pizza with lots and lots and lots of caramelized (home grown!) onions. i guess that's not really a snack...

hazelnut cocoa granola bars: with eggboy, sitting in our car in the middle of a beet field, discussing wedding plans. i think i only decided we'd elope once that day.

sweet potato fries: al fresco, with the egg parents, before a wild night of folding laundry and watching wet hot american summer. 

hazelnut cocoa granola bars

makes 6-8 large bars

ingredients

1 c packed medjool dates (pits removed)

1/4 c honey

1/4 c tahini

1/4 c cocoa powder

a pinch of sea salt

1 c toasted hazelnuts

1 c toasted oats*

*toast at 350º for 15-20 minutes

clues

in a food processor, grind up the dates to form a paste. add the honey, tahini, cocoa powder, and salt and process to combine.

add the hazelnuts and oats and pulse 40-60 times so that the mixture is roughly combined, and the hazelnuts and oats are coarsely chopped.

turn onto a work surface and knead the mixture so that the hazelnuts and oats are all worked in. flatten out into a rectangle on a piece of parchment paper. you can cut the rectangle into bars now, but it will be easier if you place it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes before cutting.

enjoy! store in an air tight container.

-yeh!

ingredients for this recipe were provided by swanson health products, an awesome family-owned online company with a super cute store in fargo!! after hearing about my hazelnut catastrophe they sent me the sweetest ever care package filled with hazelnuts and other goodies. i took to it like a chopped box and came up with these granola bars. it was the most fun!

also, this summer marks swanson's 45th anniversary!! to celebrate, they're giving away a $45 gift certificate to one of you lucky ducks. you can use it for their vitamins, beauty products, healthy foods, or any other goodies on their site. (i'd probably buy $45 worth of justin's almond butter, but that's just me). they ship anywhere in the world, so this giveaway is open to everyone! to enter, leave a comment with your favorite childhood after-school snack! mine was lean pockets. oops, did i say that out loud?

update: this giveaway is now closed.

meat n nuts + giveaway!

i have all of these really hilarious college memories of strolling through the hallways on the way to class or rehearsal when suddenly i'd find myself face to face with my friend john who would be carrying news like,

molly! i know what juilliard needs and it's a rooftop garden. we should probably definitely build one, right?

or

molly! did you know that a guy in i.t. makes his own beef jerky? here, i got you some.

or 

molly! let's make a concert series!!!!!

always a ray of sunshine, always a good idea, and to hear it all spoken in his big baritone voice was the cherry on top. i'm pretty sure i remember the exact moment when he came to me with the idea for meat n nuts. trail mix with jerky. i was so caught off guard by how simple it was, but then intrigued because i never done heard of a thing like that existing before?!

and so began months and months (years, now) of planning and testing. he'd deliver me nuts, he'd have samplings at my salons, i saw him in california where he told tales of the cow farm he had just visited. i've tried prototype after prototype and eggboy has devoured prototype after prototype, because while i love snacking on and savoring the honey sriracha and black pepper flavors, eggboy sees all of the flavors as delicious and easy manly calories that will make him all big and beefy. (idk, is that how boys think?)

needless to say, i am proud of john and his partners, tyler and michael, and it has been really fascinating to see the development of this yumminess. i also had a ton of fun with eggboy and egg sister doing some publicity shots for them!

today they are launching their kickstarter to raise funds so that they can really take this thing to the next level. to celebrate, they're giving away a sampler pack to one of you people!!! to enter, please leave a comment with the snack mix of your wildest dreams (it can even be like... cupcakes and pork buns...) and then if you'd like to get another entry to the giveaway, share a link to their kickstarter on any of your social media accounts! (this giveaway open to u.s. residents only.) i'll pick a winner at random next week!

-yeh!!!!