I love baking, but its sometimes not so great for J and I. Both for our waist sizes and also for our health– eating freshly baked chocolate chip cookies every single night may taste great, but I don’t think it can be that good for you. Yeah,… that’s thats what I’m thinking…

So about a month ago, J and I went to our friends house for dinner. I volunteered to bring the dessert. Baking for other people motivates me and gives me a reason to try out something new and fresh that I’ve never made before. And I also don’t have to worry about having a dozen sweets in our house, to be left for only J and I to eat. It’s great, I don’t have to worry about growing old and overly plump,… at least for one night.

On this particular night, I didn’t want to have to go out to the store to purchase ingredients. And I was so proud of myself! I came up with two desserts with ingredients that came solely from our cupboards. One of the desserts was the Lime Meltaways, which I posted pictures of a few weeks ago and the other,…

Almond Brittle!

I had never made brittle before and always thought it would be some difficult task. However, it wasn’t at all… if anything, it was very basic and easy.

I found the recipe on Noshtalgia’s blog, while surfing through some cooking sites. And, although it’s for Peanut Brittle, I didn’t have any peanuts so I replaced them with Almonds and sprinkled the top with broken up chunks of chocolate.

Don’t be intimidated…it really wasn’t that hard to make. I really was amazed!

All you do is gather the basic ingredients: almonds (or any nut you desire), water, baking soda, butter, white sugar, white karo syrup, salt, and chocolate chunks.

Boil everything except for the baking soda, butter, and chocolate until it reaches a temperature of 310 degrees on your thermometer. I used this type of thermometer.

Then, take it off the heat, stir in your baking soda and butter, and pour onto your buttered cookie sheet.

It should harden pretty rapidly. If you like,…of course you would like to!, sprinkle on chunks of chocolate…yum, yum… and spread it over your brittle if you’re going for the full chocolate coverage.

After it has cooled, pick up the large slab of sugary, nutty goodness and drop it back onto your cookie sheet. Repeat with the pieces until they break into the sizes you like.

Almond Brittle

(adapted from Noshtalgia’s Blog)

2 cups almonds (broken into pieces)

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup white Karo syrup

About a teaspoon of salt (to season and counteract with the sweet)

About 1 1/2 cups of any kind of chocolate you like broken up into bits.

-Butter a cookie sheet and set aside.

-Mix water, sugar, almonds, salt, and syrup in a 2 quart sauce pan.

-Bring to a boil.

-Cook until candy thermometer reaches hard crack stage (310°F).

-Remove from heat.

-Quickly stir in baking soda and butter, as it will harden rapidly.

-Pour quickly onto a buttered cookie sheet and let stand for about an hour to cool.

-After it has set for about 20 minutes or so, sprinkled broken up pieces of chocolate on top of brittle. Or sprinkle it on while it is still warm and then spread the chocolate around with a knife for chocolate coated brittle.

-After it has cooled, break up into pieces.

Enjoy and let me know how it turns out!!

At this point in my cooking life, I’ve noticed that I have two regular go-to’s when looking for a great recipe. Martha Stewart and Pioneer Woman.

Pioneer Woman, because her blog is so easy to maneuver through and find a delicious recipe for almost any occasion. Whatever I make from her site usually turns out amazing!

And, Martha Stewart,… cause hey! She’s Martha. What else do you need?! My specific favorite is her Everyday Food Magazine… easy, simple, and always good.

I feel like all my posts these days have to do with Pioneer Woman and Martha Stewart recipes, though. I’m starting to bug myself. I need to branch out. I read so many other food blogs,…I need to start trying their recipes instead of always going to whats most comfortable.

However, all that to say, here’s a great recipe I found through Slashfood’s site!! And, guess what?! It’s a Martha Stewart recipe!! (But, is it ever delicious!!)

Lime Meltaways (not to be confused with her Lemon Sandwich Cookies)! Filled with butter, powdered sugar, and lime, these cookies truly melt in your mouth. I don’t usually make this style of cookie, so it was a fun change to the regular chocolate chip cookie. Made with tons of butter, but no eggs, you mix together the dough, wrap it up into a log, refrigerate it for about an hour, then cut into 1/4 inch slices and bake. After it’s done baking, you toss the warmed cookie in powdered sugar and enjoy! YUM!

Martha promoted her new book a couple weeks ago, Martha Stewart’s Cookies, on her show. I totally want to get it (Not that I really need another cookbook!). The cool thing is, I didn’t even realize this until after I made the cookies, but you can watch Martha make her Lime Meltaway’s on her website. So, if you’re thinking about making her cookies, check out her website and watch the video.

Lime Meltaways (taken from Slashfood.com via Martha Stewart.com)

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Finely grated zest of 2 limes
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon coarse salt

Put butter and 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add lime zest and juice and vanilla, and mix until fluffy.

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add to butter mixture, and mix on low speed until just combined.

Divide dough in half. Place each half on an 8-by-12-inch sheet of parchment paper. Roll in parchment to form a log 1 ¼ inches in diameter, pressing a ruler along edge of parchment at each turn to narrow log. Refrigerate logs until cold and firm, at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove parchment from logs; cut into ¼-inch-thick rounds. Space rounds 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 13 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, toss cookies with remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

Hope you enjoy it! Make sure to share with tons of friends!