frozen mango sabayon shortbread

The first thing people ask me when I tell them I write a food blog is, "What's the best thing you've ever made?" Gosh I hate that question. I've never had a good answer. Some days it's been strawberry cheesecake parfaits, other days thyme and black pepper cheez-its. But today, I've finally found an answer, an answer that—without a doubt—trounces the precedents. Frozen Mango Sabayon Shortbread. This elegant spring dessert is wonderfully light and refreshing—tropical cubes of mango suspend in creamy sabayon atop crunchy shortbread. Whatever is bothering you, this will surely make the world good again. Cut into wedges and share with only your most worthy of friends...or not, you probably deserve it more. 

chocolate peanut butter chip biscotti

The other day I was walking through my local specialty shop and found that they were sampling "authentic" Italian biscotti. Naturally, I stopped by...multiple times, until the lady cutting the biscotti began to give me looks. By then I was already full. On my third or fourth visit, I caught  glance at the unit price for an "authentic" Italian biscotto (the singular for biscotti): $2.oo per biscotto. I'm all for quality, but at that price I might as well be eating gold bars speckled with diamonds! Then I had an epiphany. I could make a killing selling biscotti around my neighborhood. But because food bloggers are inherently exercise adverse (at least this one is), I set aside that idea for a good three weeks until today. Turns out, biscotti are much easier than the "authentic" Italians are leading them up to be. Follow these easy steps and you too can enjoy authentic biscotti without taking the equity out of your home to pay down biscotti loans. You might even become a millionaire selling them to your neighbors. As always, I hold a 30% royalty on all recipes you sell to your loved ones. ;-)

{how to make} quick and easy homemade biscotti w/ cranberries + white chocolate

Homemade biscotti is a completely different experience than the ones that come from the plastic wrapper. Unlike the biscottis that you buy from the tubs at Costco these aren't stale or dry. They're hard and crunchy like they're supposed to be, but because we make them fresh, you can really taste the buttery shortbread-esque crumb that's just so good!

Not only do these biscotti look awesome, but they taste just like you would get them from a really fancy italian restaurant. I'm not even kidding you guys. I was so surprised at how quick, and easy, and awesome these turned out that I made a second batch for the neighbors (a.k.a myself). These are also a wonderful gift for friends and family this holiday season. You know what to do. Press that orange button. 

coming soon - quick & easy roll-out lime sugar cookies

I'm not one to brag (yes I am), but that picture looks worthy enough for a magazine cover. 

white chocolate oreo cheesecake bars

Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner, and as your coworkers and church group have reminded you, so is the annual dread of what you're going to make for the holiday potluck. (Hanukkah is approaching too. I didn't forget  about  you my Jewish viewers.)

If you're one who checks the silverware, napkin, bread, or drink boxes be aware that you're not being discreet about your laziness. People know, and they talk behind your back. Show those gossiping b*tches you aren't lazy, and not only that, but you can cook laps around Margaret's annual slimy burnt pigs in a blanket. 

frozen yogurt shortbread bars + coconut + chocolate

I want to say thank you to all the kind people at Foodista and Food Gawker who featured this measly, blurry picture filled blog on their sites. How you inflate my ego internet. Now I can't walk down the produce aisle without knocking down apples. (So with the cooking unrelated introductions aside, so do the cooking related introductions begin)

In the beginning of the summer of my sixteenth year, I made Frozen Yogurt Shortbread Bars (and watched TFIOS). I'm sure all of you have seen The Fault in our Stars in movies, but for those of you who haven't what's wrong with you. But, this blog isn't about movies or whether if Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort are dating, it's about food, good food, especially fudge swirled creamy coconut frozen yogurt layered upon delicious buttery crunchy shortbread food. 

This chow creation was born out of my desperation to escape the beating heat of the San Diegan sun. And I know what some of you may be thinking, "I didn't know San Diego had it's own sun?" Troll much. You don't know how many trolls spite me and mock my ambiguous 10th grade wishy-washy grammar. Anyways. People of the internet and beyond, before you can graduate to Frozen Yogurt Shortbread status, you need to learn how to make the veins of Easy Vegan Hot Fudge Sauce that is swirled throughout this dessert. For those of you who need me to say, click the orange link.

peanut butter swirled blondies - sweet | salty | creamy

And tilt your head to the right, just a little more...perfect. You'll notice this is the first time in Chow Creations history that the text is slanted in a title picture. I'm trying to stay relatable with the new influx of hipster viewers I'm getting. Hopefully everyone is copacetic (look it up) with the new changes; meet me in the comments.

Blondies are delicious as is in their argent luster. However, if you swirl in some peanut butter you're looking at one satiny, chewy, heavenly hell of a treat. Veins of rich peanut butter course through this dense and chewy bar; adding a salty sweet layer of complexity to this, what would otherwise be, mundane bar. 

the best lemon bars in the world - a classic perfected

Lemon Bars are one of those classic desserts you can find in about any of the supermarkets these days. What's different about my lemon bars is they actually taste good. I know, surprising (not the part about my lemon bars tasting good, the part about lemon bars tasting good at all). Sweet without being cloyingly so, buttery without being too rich, and certainly not dense. If I were to use one word to describe these lemon bars it would be, perfect. The dilemma chefs have always had when making lemon bars, was getting a firm enough top, without sacrificing a crispy bottom. With this recipe you won't have to give up any of that. This is the perfect summer dessert, gift, or picnic item for your next special occasion (or just for everyday eating). It's absolute perfection in a bar, so let's get started (before I go off on one of my tangents). By the way, did I tell you that I finally got a twitter account. @chefchowblog #awesome #madcookingskills #i'mnotmadatyou #i'msorry #don'tcry #nowyou'remakingmecry. Why didn't you stop me!

Like many of our recipes we'll start with the butter. You want to cut the butter into small chunks and put it on a plate in the freezer to harden. Whenever you're baking, often times the temperature of your butter will dictate the success of whatever you're making. Recipes that call for melted butter (i.e. cookies) are intended to have a chewy outcome. Desserts that require the butter to be cold (i.e. pies, pastries) mean the end product will one of these three, crispy, crunchy, or flaky (it could even be all three, oh my). The more you chow.

10 easy picnic dessert ideas - happy national picnic day!

I couldn't figure out why the links, or the descriptions weren't working or being displayed. For the time being if you like a picture type it into the search bar on the right hand side and it should pop up. And as always, 

Chow!

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goji berry cashew granola bars - 1st annual picnic earth day celebration!

Happy Picnic Earth Day Chowder Heads! This is our first National Picnic Day, Earth Day Mashup and I hope to remember to do this for all the years to come. My goal is to show ya'll how to make something that is uniquely Earth Day themed while also picnic friendly. What I came up with are these Goji Berry Cashew Granola Bars. Think of these like an upscale version of the archetype trail mix bar you get at the supermarket. These packable snacks are chock-full of sweet, salty, bitter, and spicy. I just think they are the perfect embodiment of what the earth provides for us and the variety of flavors it can produce - #motherearth, #savetheenvironment, #aliensarenotreal. So without further ado let's get started! By the way, I've gotten comments that I invariably say "did I mention this is easy to make" in all my first paragraphs, so I want to apologize and I won't ever do it again. Unless, by pointing it out I inadvertently say it again in which I don't apologize because that was the plan. 

Like I said before, these aren't your average, one note, cloyingly sweet supermarket granola bars. These are naturally sweetened with honey, a little bitter from the goji berries which I will explain later, salty from the sea salt, and just the slightest bit spicy from some black pepper. Although these have the look, texture, and feel of a mundane granola bar, when you bite into one I'll guarantee it'll be an experience like none other. 

nutella no-bake crumb bars - "fudge"ddaboudit

Are you cheap? Is it too much effort for you to get a shopping cart so you end up carrying all your groceries? Are you hungry? If you answered yes to any of the questions above  then, this chow-fection is perfect for you. Not only is this easy to make, but you can have better than store-bought fudge in under ten minutes. Yes, it's amazing what sugar, butter, and chocolate can do in the same amount of time it takes for you to take a dump. And although these bars are certainly fudgy I wouldn't necessarily call them fudge. When you sink your teeth into these bars the chocolate automatically melts on the tongue, but the oats provide a nice chewy, nutty finish. If the kids are itching to give the family gifts this is the perfect activity to get them involved. Not only are these super easy to make, but you're friends and family will finally know that you have the best kids in the family. So scroll down and check these out!

To start I am going to bring my sugar, butter, cream, and cocoa to a boil over medium heat. Once the butter has completely melted and the mixture boils, keep it on the heat for another minute. 

chewy coconut bars - the brownie's lesser known cousin

The holidays lend me so much to be grateful for, my family, good health, and coconut bars! Well, less than good health after you eat them. But isn't that what the holidays are about. We suffer and scrape by on atkins and or weight watchers for the better part of the year just so we can eat chewy coconut bars today. This holiday season don't you think your family deserves to indulge a little, and what better way to gain back those 3 pounds than with this scrumptious chow-fection.

chewy fudgy brownies - just as the name suggests

This is a message to every home cook out there. Every time you buy a brownie mix from the supermarket God blinds a puppy. See how cute he is. He can't. 

And why would you ever want to buy a brownie mix when brownies are so easy to make yourself! Who knows what kinds of yucky stuff they put in those mixes and in the end they aren't really worth it. If you want to cut a year off your life don't you want to do it in style. Of course you do, you aren't stupid...or are you?