super easy cut-out lime sugar cookies

Reader, meet lime sugar cookie, exotic second cousin of the sour cream cookie. Lime sugar cookie, meet reader. 

All of us have made sugar cookies in the past, but in this post I want to show you a couple little tricks to make your sugar cookies the best sugar cookies at the Thanksgiving table. Keep reading if you want to learn how to make a refreshing twist on this classic recipe; a quick and easy stress free Thanksgiving dessert contribution. You know what to do, click "Chowtinue" Reading. (Oh my goodness these puns are chowsome)

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. 

coming soon - strawberries and cream scones

Scones are dry, hard, and tough to eat. But Strawberries and Cream Scones are fluffy, creamy, berry-y and delicious. They're also really quick and easy to make. 

corn and cranberry pancake cookies - the pancakie revolution has commenced!

Besides the fact that this title has a serious case of alliteration overboard, these pancake cookies were amazing and absolutely delicious! Seeing that this Chow Creation is the convergence of two of my favorite breakfast/dessert items, I couldn't see why this wouldn't be a home run. They are soft and pancake like, but have this buttery crumb like a cookie. It's the perfect breakfast food that everyone is going to go crazy for! Not mention that pairing of the sweet corn (that is right at it's peak season) and those sweet tart cranberries, this is killer! 

Now I know what most of you in the foodieverse must be thinking, is this the new Cronut. Yes, yes it is. In fact, I'm predicting this is going to be even bigger than the cronut because, unlike the Cronut, which is difficult to make and comes in a limited range of flavors, the Pancakie can be made by anyone with a whisk and there's an unlimited array of variations you can create. Soon households all over America will have their favorite Pancakie recipe and then it'll spread to Asia, and then Europe, and I'll be king of the world! ahemmmm...so yeah, Pancakies, they're gonna be huge.  

spicy asian cucumber salad - sweet | cool | spicy

If there was only one thing I would want people to remember about my momma, it would be that she is an amazing cook. Okay...she's also kind, and funny, and all these other things, but really, people don't come over for the jokes, they come over for the food (sorry momma). And this is one of the "secret" dishes that drives droves of hungry folk through our dinky paint-scraped doors every weekend. 

This spicy cucumber salad is the perfect side dish and accompaniment to...everything. Spicy, crunchy, sweet, refreshing, and probably best of all, it takes 5 minutes max to make. 

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.

strawberry pavlova trifle

The resurfacing heated debate of whether pavlova originated in New Zealand or Australia was really the inspiration for this week's chow creation. Just kidding - I just really like yummy things and this was surely that and even more! This pavlova layered dessert is not only delicious, but it is also texturally and aesthetically delectable. The crunchy chewiness of the pavlova, layered between smooth creamy pudding and accented with fresh sweet strawberries. This is to die for - literally, if God told me this was his welcome gift I would die right here right now (I'm just kidding, please don't kill me now. At least let me finish the post). 

To kick off this three component dessert I'm going to separate some eggs. You only want the whites. If you get just the smidgiest bit of yolk in your whites consider it breakfast and start over. The yolk will prevent the whites from whipping and you'll be standing over your pavlova for hours wondering why it stays flat. Reserve 3 of the egg yolks for the vanilla pudding. 

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. 

chocolate cashew butter - this takes more time explaining than making

Those of you who know me, know that I love desserts disguised as breakfast items. Like coffee cakes, muffins, and danishes. But this Chocolate Cashew Butter is the most incognito of them all. This is like the nutella of kidney shaped nuts. You can market nutella all you want with multigrain bread and floating bubbled nutrition facts. But at the end of the day, all it is is eating chocolate for breakfast. Which is precisely why I love this recipe. It taste similar to nutella, except creamier and nuttier but without all the high fructose corn syrup and artificial additives. 

candied lemon slices - more like lemon rings

These days the shelves at the stores are inundated with rows and rows of processed overly sweet crap. You want to be able to feed your family delicious sweets that you know they'll love, but more than that, you know what's in them. That's why these Candied Lemon Slices are exactly what you've been waiting for. Well, they started out as slices but turned into rings. Later I'll show you how you can avoid this. They're naturally sweet, chewy, and you can be sure that they taste like the real deal because they are the real deal. Not only will the kids love these, but you'll love them too because they are just so easy to put together. You literally only need sugar, water, and a couple lemons. Heck, it's even easier than going to the store to buy them. So let's get started. 

First you need to obtain some lemons, obviously. Try to pick lemons that are round so all of your slices turn out the same. Although it may seem like common sense, you should also use lemons that have no blemishes or dried parts because remember we'll be eating the rinds as well. Rinse your lemons thoroughly and using a very sharp knife, cut an inch off both ends. 

the best zucchini bread - that's in the world

After staying up all night to watch the ball drop, or in some places a large shoe, a giant peach, or a live possum, you want something super delicious to wake up to. And this, is that somethin' something. Not only is this really tasty, but you can prepare this days before you want to serve. Actually I'll say my peace now, it does taste better if you wait for like two days. The bread sinks down into the tin, and the flavors meld together, I think it's just superb. But please don't wait more than two days because then you will have a different kind of green thing running through your bread, and it won't be the zucchini.

crunchy chewy orange chocolate cookies - happy national cocoa day!

Instead of the traditional single bite shot, I decided to go with the more daring double bite.

As you all know on December 12th it's National Cocoa Day! So in recognition of this truly special food holiday, I decided to make a chow-fection that embodied everything I love about cocoa, while presenting it in a shape we all know and love. Thus the birth of the Crunchy Chewy Orange Chocolate Cookie, and the extra fold in my love handle. But we can work that off later however there's no better excuse to make these cookies other than right now. Using a little bit of my scientific knowledge I was able to combine my two favorite textures to create a cookie unlike any you have ever tried, so stay tuned for the secret shortly. But without further-ado let's get started! 

To begin I'm going to whisk together my All Purpose (AP) flour, my salt, baking powder, and cocoa powder. You don't need to dirty a sifter when whisking proves just as effective. 

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.

assorted macaroons - welcome to america

Oh boy! Macaroons! I sure love me some of those mini french sandwich cookies that are soooo in style right now. You're really showing us how to make those Chef Chow? EH-UH! That was supposed to be the sound a buzzer makes. No I'm showing you how to make the american coconut macaroons. You know the you always shy away from because they're way too sweet macaroons. The only difference is, mine are delicious!

Now I know not all of you think that they're overly sweet but I do, and so do the members of my weekly, overly sweet macaroons club. But you don't have to worry because I found two tricks to cut the sweetness of the macaroons so they taste just perfect! The first trick is to toast your coconut flakes before you actually bake the cookies. This way the initial sugar from the sweetened coconut gets caramelized, and all you're left with is a deep coconut flavor. My second tip is to add different flavorings. Macaroons are often too sweet because there's no flour or butter to absorb the sugar. Adding citrus or nuts can balance the flavor, and not to mention show people that you aren't just a one-trick pony. 

churro balls - at a theater near you

Today's blogpost is basically an excuse for me to fry up dough and eat it all by myself in a corner of my kitchen. I know, it's a chowfectionary sin not to share, so I did throw one to the squirrel in my backyard if you were wondering. Little creep's been eyeballing me all day. But seriously this chow-fection could not be simpler to make, plus at the end of it you get this nice bowl of cinnamon sugar...which you can throw away, he said as he cleaned the bowl with his tongue. 

There are so many reasons why you should make these churros. 

a) as professional as they look, they are also delicious

b) they are easy

c) and you'll gain some serious culinary street cred after you serve this to your guests