I’m having so much fun with the #GreatHallowTweet bloghop! These Milan tombstone brownies were actually the first idea I had when I was trying to decide on what Halloween treats to make. The actual “tombstones” are based on the Milan cookies I made for the July Daring Baker Challenge, except I halved the recipe and filled them with a chocolate-pumpkin ganache. I whipped up very basic brownies (basically my go-to non-box mix recipe) to place the cookies on top of, but you can add anything in to the brownie mix that you like – chocolate chips, nuts, etc. You can go even further and frost the top of the brownie with other spooky decorations, but I liked them the way they were, sort of gloomy and bare. Here’s what you’ll need!

Milan cookies:

• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp lemon extract
• 3/4 cups all purpose flour

Pumpkin ganache:

• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 Tbsp pumpkin

Basic brownies:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks softened (almost melted) unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup flour

First, whip up the brownies. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×9″ baking pan. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, and salt. Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the cocoa powder and flour, and anything else you’d like to add into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the baking pan.

Bake 25-30 minutes or just until set – but don’t turn off the oven; we’ll need it for the cookies!

Next, start on the cookies. Using a mixer, cream the butter with the sugar. Add in the egg whites gradually, and then mix in the lemon and vanilla extracts.

Add in the flour.

With a 1/4″ tip, pipe 1″ portions of the batter spread 2″ apart onto parchment-lined cookie sheets.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges become light golden brown. Let them cool on the pan for a few minutes before removing them.

To make the ganache, heat the cream in a small saucepan. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate in a small bowl, and then stir in the pumpkin. Set aside to cool.

While the cookies are still warm, cut them all in half.

Spread one of the halves with some of the ganache, and top with the other half. Repeat with the rest of the cookies. Decorate by piping spooky words on to the tombstones.

Cut the brownies into pieces, and then press a tombstone cookie into the top of each one!

The July Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I’m so excited to be participating in this month’s Daring Baker challenge! Since this is my first time, I decided to only tackle one of the recipes rather than both. I’ve always been a fan of the Milano cookies made by Pepperidge Farm, although I don’t buy them often because they’re a bit pricey. These cookies, however, are nothing like those – but in a very good way. These are a little more chewy, and they’re bursting with citrus flavor from the lemon extract in the cookie batter and the orange zest in the ganache.

Cookies:

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour
• Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 orange, zested

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a mixer, cream the butter with the sugar.

Add in the egg whites gradually, and then mix in the lemon and vanilla extracts.

Now, add in the flour.

With a 1/4″ tip, pipe 1″ portions of the batter spread 2″ apart onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. I actually used a spoon to do this, although some of the cookies did come out a bit larger.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges become light golden brown. Let them cool on the pan for a few minutes before removing them. In the meantime, measure out the chocolate you need and get the zest from the orange.

In a small saucepan, heat the cream. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, and then stir in the orange zest. Set aside to cool.

While the cookies are still warm, spread the bottom of one cookie with the chocolate filling.

Then, using another cookie, make a sandwich. Repeat with the rest of the cookies.

Last weekend, hubby and I went strawberry picking. Almost every year we go apple picking, but somehow I’ve never been to pick strawberries before! It was a lot of fun…

…and we left with 6 quarts of strawberries!

Now, I just need to figure out what to do with them all…I think we’ve only made our way through 2 quarts. Fortunately, I had some leftover ganache from when I made the chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes, so I dipped some of the strawberries in that.

Mmm.

If you have a favorite strawberry recipe, send it my way!

Hubby and I had a party to go to this past weekend, so I was trying to figure out what to bring. I was pretty sure I wanted to bring cupcakes, and I was definitely sure that they needed to contain chocolate. Then, I remembered the chocolate chip cookie dough brownies I made back in March, and how quickly they disappeared. I know you’re following me here. That’s right…chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. I also whipped up some chocolate ganache for the frosting. These are for the serious chocolate lover. Here is what you’ll need!

For the cake mix, I used Hershey’s Deep Dark Chocolate Cake recipe:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup dark cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

For the cookie dough mix, I used Hershey’s Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe:

• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-2/3 cups chocolate chips

For the ganache:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups chocolate chips

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Second, start making the cookie dough.  In a medium bowl, mix together the sugars, vanilla, and butter.

Beat until fluffy, then add the egg. Beat again until well-blended.

Mix together the flour and baking soda.

Pour into the egg mixture and beat.

Stir in the chocolate chips, and then set the cookie dough aside.

Next, make the cake batter. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Add in the eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla, and beat.

Fill 24 cupcake liners 2/3 full of the cake batter. In each one, drop in a tablespoonful or so of the cookie batter. It doesn’t need to be perfect.

Bake the cupcakes about 30 minutes. They’re kind of fun to watch, because you can see the cake baking over the cookie dough. Or, maybe it’s not that fun, and I’m just weird like that. Anyway, check to make sure they’re done with a toothpick, and let them cool before removing them from the pan.

Make the ganache next. Melt the chocolate on medium heat using a double boiler. Then, add in the cream, mixing constantly until the mixture is well-combined. Remove the ganache from the heat and let it cool for about 45 minutes.

Now, remove the cupcakes from the pan…

…and dip the top of each one in the ganache. When I was done, I stuck them all in the refrigerator to firm up a bit, and then repeated this step for a double layer of ganache.

A chocolate lover’s heaven.

I’ve never made brioche before; in fact, I’ve never even made bread before I received my copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day for Christmas last year. I’ve been so happy with the master recipe and how versatile it is that I’ve barely explored any of the other doughs and recipes in the book! Until now, that is. If you have the book, you have to make this. It’s easy! With your bucket of brioche at the ready, just pull out a grapefruit-sized portion and roll it out to about 1/4″ thickness:

Top with all but 1/4 cup of the chocolate ganache (sorry, didn’t get a photo of that step!), and roll it up, being careful to tuck the ends under like so:

Set in a buttered loaf pan (I cheated and just used cooking spray) to rest for about an hour and forty minutes:

When the brioche has finished resting, brush with egg wash and sprinkle generously with sugar. Then, try to get it out of the pan and on to your baking stone without disturbing it too much, and bake it for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

When it comes out of the oven, drizzle the remaining ganache over the top.

Wait until the brioche is completely cool to eat, or if you’re like me (hey, I’m just keepin’ it real here), wait 5 minutes and then cut off a slice while it’s still warm!