Claudia's Cookbook

Desserts

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes

Claudia's Cookbook - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes 17

June is my favourite month. Summer is in full swing, dinner and drinks on the patio, and my birthday. Yes, my birthday. It’s truly my favourite holiday. I even take the day off work and treat myself to a sleep in, guilty pleasure TV and perhaps even a spa treatment if I’m able to get in. In my friend group there are three of us who have June birthdays, and we had the opportunity to get together last night to celebrate. I figured it isn’t a true birthday celebration without cake, so I decided to poll my friends to see which flavour cupcake they wanted me to make. Well, with a tie between chocolate and red velvet, I decided to mix it up and make these delicious Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes! I chose right – they were a total hit! There were even a couple loud statements claiming they were “the best cupcakes I have ever had!” You can’t get much better than that. These cupcakes are rich, decadent and moist. A total treat for birthday’s, holidays or any day of the week!

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Desserts

Frozen Hot Chocolate…and Happy Mother’s Day!

Claudia's Cookbook - Frozen Hot Chocolate 12

First off, Happy Mother’s Day! This day is quite important to me as I am pretty close to my Mother. Heck, I even named this blog after her! I may be a tad biased, but she is by far the best Mother in the entire world. I am not a Mother myself but I have a huge respect for those who are and the hard work that comes with the role. So to all you fabulous Mom’s out there – thank you for everything you do.

Now onto something absolutely delicious – Frozen Hot Chocolate! Last week I was on vacation in Las Vegas with two of my girlfriends. Lots of shopping and eating was had. I finally had the opportunity to dine at Serendipity 3 and taste their famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate! I’ve attempted this at couple times in New York City, but failed to make it to the restaurant. It definitely lived up to it’s amazing reputation and $11 price tag.

Frrrozen Hot Chocolate

Here it is above. Yeah – it was huge and so rich and chocolatey! And look at that whipped cream! I had to find a recipe and duplicate it immediately. It’s a pretty simple recipe. I would recommend using a darker chocolate to give it more of a rich chocolate flavour that is similar to the original.

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Dinner

Red Wine Braised Beef Ribs

Claudia's Cookbook - Red Wine Braised Short Ribs 21I may have a food blog, but I am definitely not the best cook in my house. If you haven’t already noticed, I am more of a baker. I love to bake! Cooking? Not so much. Part of the reason why I find cooking a little frustrating is because I am one who likes to follow a recipe. Precise measurements and ingredient lists are something I can get behind. I have learned that the best chefs are the ones that can take any ingredients you have in your house and come up with an amazing dish. They love to improvise because they understand the elements of cooking and flavour profiles. I am not so smart in this department. My fiancé, on the other hand, is a genius! He is truly at home when he is food experimenting in the kitchen.

One evening a few months ago, this delectable rib dish greeting me when I came home from a long business trip. The house smelled absolutely amazing when I walked in. A rich, savoury warmth that lingered for a day after we dined on this meal. The meat was beyond tender. It literally slid off the bone. I was in shock – this recipe is so easy! Surely this had to be a joke? Lucky me (and you), it’s not!  I guarantee you will love this recipe. Even though I am not a huge meat eater, I still can’t stop thinking about these ribs.

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Healthy, Salads

Santa Fe Chicken Salad

Claudia's Cookbook - Santa Fe Chicken Salad 14

My friend Carly and I came up with a crazy idea to take a TRX exercise class every Monday night. For those of you who don’t know what TRX workouts entail, here are a couple buzzwords I like to use to describe the exercises: absolute hell, pain, and regret. I’m only half kidding. The workouts consist of using your own body strength and weight to suspend yourself in a number of different exercises. It’s tough, but apparently gets better/easier the more you go. Carly and I only did 30 minutes of the workout yesterday and we both can barely function. I literally cannot walk up or DOWN the stairs. Next week is a full hour of training. No pain, no gain, right? Pray for us.

I didn’t want all the energy and effort of working out to go to waste. Therefore, I am trying to eat (and now feature) some healthier and delicious recipes. This salad recipe has been on my radar for a long time. I absolutely love the Santa Fe Chicken Salad recipe at Earls Restaurant and I adore this copycat recipe. It’s one of my “go to” orders every time I dine there. The spicy/smoky flavour of the chicken, richness of the black beans and dates, combined with the sweet and sour flavours of the lime and peanut vinaigrette makes this a delicious, guilt free dish.

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Desserts

Brown Butter Fruit & Oat Cookies

Claudia's Cookbook - Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies 10

I had to travel to Toronto last week for a work conference. Over the past 10 years Toronto has become one of my favourite places to visit. Not because I actually love the city (I’m still on the fence) but because Denise, my best friend in the whole wide world, lives there. Since I was a little late on sending her a birthday present (it was in February), I decided to bake her some delicious treats to give to her in person. Denise is one of my biggest baking supporters. Although the distance doesn’t really help her taste most of my baking, she continues to encourage me to create delicious treats in hopes she will one day try them. This past weekend was now her time to enjoy!

I was inspired to make these cookies after a visit to my local Starbucks. I was famished and needed a quick pick-me-up. I tried their Fruit & Oat Cookie, fell in love with it, and immediately needed to replicate it. As I have previously stated throughout this blog, I love baking with brown butter and I wanted to do the same with these cookies. They have great texture with the oats and a nice blend of sweetness with the dried cranberries, apricot and raisins. Most importantly, they are Denise approved. You can’t get a better endorsement than that.

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Desserts

Cadbury Mini Egg Skillet Cookie

Claudia's Cookbook - Cadbury Mini Egg Skillet Cookie 19  My obsession with Cadbury Mini Eggs continues. I figured you wouldn’t mind if I posted another recipe with these delectable treats, right? Our Cadbury Mini Egg Cookie recipe I posted a couple years ago proves to be one of our most popular recipes, especially this time of year. I figured I should do some experimenting and see where it leads me. Well, I can report that it led me to this delicious skillet cookie! I adapted a skillet chocolate chip cookie recipe from the lovely Bakers Royale. I selected this recipe to adapt because it uses brown butter. I love brown butter. It has such a rich nutty flavour and aroma. Plus, you don’t need an electric mixer for this recipe. Bonus!

This skillet cookie is dense and rich. The Mini Eggs are so delicious with the cookie base. I opted to use a 9-inch skillet for a thicker cookie, but this recipe can easily suit a 12-inch skillet as well. If you use a 9-inch skillet, just ensure you up your baking time by about 10 minutes. I highly recommend you make this recipe for Easter!

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Desserts

Double Chocolate Stout Cake

Claudia's Cookbook - Double Chocolate Stout Cake 12

Wow time sure does fly. I can’t believe it’s been over one month since my last post. Trust me though, I have a valid reason. Last week, I was finally able to escape our brutally cold winter and head to the sunny skies and warmth of Arizona to visit my parents. (more…)

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Dinner

The Best Mac and Cheese

Claudia's Cookbook - Mac and Cheese 21A couple years ago I was on the hunt for a really great mac and cheese recipe. The first thing I did was do what most people do, search Google. It brought up a lot of recipes that touted “the best mac and cheese recipe ever” title. I didn’t know where to begin. All of them looked great and I couldn’t narrow the search results down far enough to the point where I wouldn’t be making and eating mac and cheese for weeks. I then surveyed my former coworkers. That’s where I was introduced to this beauty of a dish. After scanning the ingredients and seeing that it used 3 different cheese, crunchy panko breadcrumbs and penne pasta (my absolute fav!), I knew this would be a serious contender. My former coworker was right – this is by far the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had. I’ve made it three or four times since discovering, and it’s a big crowd pleaser. I’m confident you will feel the same way.

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Dinner

Hearty Casserole (AKA: The Best Casserole in the Entire World)

Claudia's Cookbook - Hearty Casserole 17

It’s been extremely cold here in Winnipeg over the past 4 days. Like, seriously cold. I’m talking -40 degrees celsius cold! We had our car not start and require boosting twice in two days. We might now be on a first name basis with Dr. Hook Towing (thanks guys!). I completely admire people who can continue to eat healthy when it’s freezing outside. I totally crave comfort food, such as soups, chilli and this amazing casserole. Okay, so I not only crave comfort food when the weather is terrible. I also crave it when I am sick – like last week when I hurt my back and managed to eat my body weight in chicken fingers and fries. Don’t judge me – you’ve totally done this too.

I completely fell in love with this casserole a couple years ago when my fiancé made it for me on one random weekend. It’s the best casserole in the entire world. At least, in my humble opinion it is. I convinced him to make it again, only this time for the purposes of teaching me (and my loyal blog followers) the secret to its deliciousness. Needless to say, I soon realized this recipe is extremely simple, which is perfect on days when all you want to do is hide under the covers and hibernate.

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