Dory in the Kitchen

In honor of the Sundance Film Festival which is attracting so much attention to my lovely home state of Utah, and mostly just because Robert Redford is so darn fun to look at... ...I thought I'd share one of my most favorite desserts: The Next Best Thing To Robert Redford . For the crust, you'll need 1 cup flour 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 cup pecans, finely chopped Pinch of salt Mix flour, melted butter, salt, and nuts until crumbly, and press into a 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool completely. For the filling, you'll need 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened 8 ounces whipped topping, thawed 1/2 cup powdered sugar  4 ounces instant chocolate pudding mix 4 ounces instant vanilla pudding mix 3 cups milk chocolate shavings for garnish Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar on high with a mixer until smooth. Fold in half of the whipped topping and spread over cooled crust. Combine and mix both of the puddings with milk and beat s...

"You're a good devil," she said, as she walked by my office with two servings of my latest baking offering. I don't have a family to spoil, or kids to surprise with fun lunchbox delights, so my coworkers are the beneficiaries of my kitchen adventures. And today, I surprised them with black cocoa brownies. Super fudgie, decadent, rich, and the perfect brownie texture in my book, I can honestly say that I've mastered this recipe and I'll never use another. 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled 1 tablespoon no sugar added apple sauce (you can use vegetable oil or yogurt, too) 1 1/8 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs, beaten 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted 1/2 cup King Arthur Flour black cocoa powder, sifted 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease an 8x8 baking pan. You want your oven rack to be on the second highest slot in your oven. Not on the ...

We rarely ever had that blue boxed stuff with cheese powder when I was a kid. In fact, I distinctly remember already knowing how to make a roux when I took my first Home Economics class in grade 7. When I say that we made things from scratch in my house, I mean it!! We ate good food. We ate well. But I still enjoyed that blue boxed stuff with cheese powder when I was a kid. In fact, I still kind of do! I might buy a higher end product with organic ingredients and white cheddar powder, but a good boxed mac & cheese is a guilty pleasure of mine. My tastes obviously evolved, thankfully, but when I want a really guilty pleasure, I make this grown up macaroni and cheese, cacio e pepe style. Loaded with cheese, butter, and enough cracked black pepper to make you sneeze, this is a recipe you never knew you always wanted. Adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe, I hope you'll give my dish a try! Ingredients Kosher salt 1 lb. small shell pasta 1 stick chilled unsalted butter 2 tsp. co...

I always liked buttercream frosting, and I completely adored cream cheese frosting, so why not marry them and create the mother of all frostings??? I did it a few years ago and I've never looked back. But before I give you the recipe and turn you loose, here are a few tips to make your frosting successful: First, make sure that your butter and your cream cheese are soft. You don't want your butter to be melting, but you absolutely want them room temperature and similar consistencies. Second, sift your dry ingredients. Lumpy cocoa powder and lumpy powdered sugar will NOT give you a silky smooth frosting. Sift happens, people. Ingredients 1/2 cup butter, softened 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tablespoon vanilla extract With an electric or stand mixer, cream butter and cream cheese for two to three minutes until well combined. Add your sifted dry ingredients and vanilla and mix on low until all ingredi...

I am one of the few odd bakers out there who don't really like cookies, especially chocolate chip cookies. Call me crazy, but I just don't care for them! Until now. My take on them combines the richness of dark chocolate with the sweetness of milk chocolate, all topped with the flakiest of flaky sea salt. Adapted from the New York Times' recipe , I think this one is worthy of keeping in rotation and sharing with loved ones. Just be sure to have some cold milk handy. Ingredients 8.5 ounces cake flour 8.5 ounces bread flour 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt 2 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature 10 ounces light brown sugar 8 ounces granulated sugar 2 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 1/4 lb chocolate (half milk chocolate and half bittersweet chocolate, at least 60% cacao content) Sea salt for sprinkling Preparation 1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl...

I spend more time in bakeries than just about anywhere else in my travels. Museums are great. Getting lost on foreign named streets is actually a blast. But bakeries are my jam! Nearly every scandinavian bakery has a cinnamon roll in one form or another, but even in their differences they're equally delicious and amazing. My favorite is the kanelbullar, a simple sweet bread dough with cardamon, filled with a blend of butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Curled up and topped with pearl sugar, they're bound to be your favorite, too. Here's everything you'll need to make the sweet bun dough 5 oz butter 17 fl oz whole milk 4 1/2 teaspoons yeast 1 teaspoon salt 90 g granulated sugar 1 tablespoon cardamom 800 g flour Melt the butter in a pan, add the milk, and heat to 98.6 degrees. Dissolve the yeast in the milk and butter mixture in the bowl of a stand mixture. Add the salt, sugar, and cardamom, and then add the flour little by little while you knead the dough with...

I find myself researching baking substitues for loads of reasons. I'll swap out oil in favor of no sugar added apple sauce to cut back on the fat. I'll go for heavy cream or half and half instead of whole mix to make my scones all the more rich and decadent. Heck, I'll even swap out avocado for eggs! Today, I found myself needing to find a baking substitute because I forgot to purchase cake flour at the grocery store yesterday. My cart had 30 pounds of flour, 10 pounds of sugar, and two pounds of salted butter, but I completely spaced the cake flour for some delicious chocolate chip cookies I recently saw with the New York times. So, here's a random tip for you: if you have a recipe that calls for cake flour and you, too, do not have any, mix together 1/4 cup cornstarch with 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour. Mix well and there you have it...DIY cake flour. I sifted my ingredients in a bowl, stirred them well, and I keep it in a glass jar. Wait, cake flour in coo...