Bready or Not

• Preheat the oven at 350-degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and brown sugar until they are light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
• In another bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; gradually add this dry mix to the creamed mix. Stir in oats. If you're using a stand mixer, you'll probably need to stir the last of the oats in by hand. This is a lot of dough!
• Use a tablespoon scoop to dole out the dough onto a cookie sheet, keeping two inches between each spoonful. These will spread.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes; they brown very fast, so keep an eye on them at the end. Remove them when they are turning golden brown. Let sit on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transitioning them to a rack to cool.
• To make the filling, start by sifting the confectioners' sugar into a large bowl. Add the shortening and marshmallow crème. Add a tablespoon of milk and gradually add more as needed to get it to spreadable consistency. Use a heaping teaspoon to dollop filling onto the base of a cookie. Spread it with a knife, top with another cookie, and press together to get cream to the edges.
• End result: about 30 large sandwich cookies.
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• Let puff pastry come to room temperature. Preheat oven at 425-degrees.
• Get out a large cookie sheet and line it with parchment paper. Unfold puff pastry onto the surface and use a pizza cutter to quickly cut the dough into 1-inch cubes.
• Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the squares are puffed and golden.
• Set out whatever will be used to stuff the nuggets. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. In another bowl, melt the butter.
• Remove the puff pastry from the oven. Pop open each cube by removing the top completely or opening it as if on a hinge--it's surprisingly easy, with those flaky layers--and add a dab of filling. Close the pastry, then roll it in butter and then in cinnamon-sugar.
• Churro Nuggets are best eaten the same day. Store them in a sealed container, with parchment or waxed paper between layers.
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• Preheat oven at 425-degrees. Use nonstick spray or butter on the muffin pan.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, lemon zest, and cinnamon. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Mix in the milk, oil, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Mixture will be pale and yellow.
• Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, making sure to scrape the bowl, but don't overmix. The batter will be thick and somewhat lumpy.
• Carefully fold in the blueberries, reserving some to place on top of the muffins.
• Pour the batter into the greased muffin tins, filling just about to the top. Add the reserved blueberries and some turbinado or sparkling sugar, if desired.
• Bake at 425-degrees for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375. Continue to bake for about 25 minutes. The tops should be lightly golden, and the muffins should pass the toothpick test. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes in pan, then remove to begin eating or to allow them to cool completely on a rack. (If you leave the muffins in the pan too long, they will steam and get soggy.)
• Muffins are best eaten within a day or two, but they can also be frozen for later enjoyment. Eat at room temperature or zap in the microwave to warm up.
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• In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and honey and beat until creamy and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
• In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: bread flour, all-purpose flour, cream of tartar, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Sift together.
• Slowly stir together the wet and dry ingredients until just combined. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and stash in the fridge for several hours or days.
• When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Use greased stoneware, parchment paper, or silpat mats. Prepare sugar and cinnamon mix, and roll dough balls to coat.
• The cookie dough, even straight from the fridge, has a soft Play-Doh-like consistency, so it will spread when it bakes; keep this in mind when you space the cookie dough balls.
• Teaspoon-sized cookies need to bake 9 to 12 minutes; Tablespoon-sized take 11 to 13 minutes. Let set on cookie sheets for 10 to 15 minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely.
• Cookies will keep in a sealed container, between waxed paper or parchment layers, for over a week and a half. They are excellent for travel or shipping.
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Brownie stage

• Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Line the bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, making sure to overlap the sides to create handles. Cover with nonstick spray.
• Sift together flour, cocoa, and salt (and espresso powder, if using) in a small bowl and set aside.
• Melt chocolate and butter together in a double boiler or in slow increments in microwave. Stir until smooth. Whisk in sugars and stir until dissolved and mixture has cooled slightly, then add eggs and vanilla extract until just combined.
• Fold together the chocolate and flour mixes until just incorporated. Pour into prepared pan.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer pan to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Cream filling stage

• Beat together corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt on medium-high speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar, a little bit at a time, mixing until creamy.
• Dump 3/4 of the cream mixture on top of cooled brownies and spread into an even layer. Add a drop of yellow food coloring gel to remaining cream mixture and stir until evenly colored. Drop dollops of yellow cream on top of white layer, and then swirl gently with a spatula. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until set.

Glaze stage

• Slowly melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler or microwave bowl. Stir until smooth. Pour over cream filling, carefully spreading into a thin, even layer.
• Chill in the fridge long enough for the chocolate to not quite harden, 15-20 minutes, OR let it chill for several hours and then let set at room temperature for about 15 minutes. The chocolate needs to be soft enough to cut through without cracking, but not soft enough to smear with each cut.
• Use the foil/paper to lift the entire block out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Using a large sharp knife, cut into 2-inch squares. Keep in sealed container in fridge; brownies will keep upward of a week.

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• Preheat oven at 325-degrees. Grease and flour a Bundt pan, tube pan, or angel food cake pan.
• In a large bowl, beat together the shortening, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add eggs one at a time until smooth, followed by most of the flour.
• In a small bowl, stir together the chocolate chips and remaining flour; this is important, as it will keep the chips from sinking in the batter as it bakes.
• Stir the floured chocolate and walnuts into the batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 55 minutes and use the toothpick test to check for doneness; bake longer if necessary. The top of the cake will be golden brown and will likely develop cracks.
• Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes, then invert onto a rack to completely cool. Store covered at room temperature. Cake is great to slice and pack for adventures!
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