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Category: Cookbook Review

Pecan Pie Bars: Cookbook Review 1

This month, Zoe & Eric are reviewing The Ultimate Shortcut Cookie Book, a cookie/dessert cookbook. This cookbook is all about shortcuts, making cookies with pre-made mixes and other shortcuts to make the process easier and faster.

Zoe’s Take:

8/10

I love pecan pie. It’s my favorite at Thanksgiving and my favorite at Christmas too. The biggest problem I have with pie is that the crust is often too much. With these pecan pie bars, I felt like I didn’t have to deal with a large amount of crust while I was eating it, which was definitely a plus. What I didn’t like so much was that the shortcut in the recipe made it so the pecans I added last didn’t really want to stay on the top, they just sunk into the batter. I also didn’t use corn syrup, I used honey instead, which didn’t make a big difference. I would definitely recommend these bars to a pecan pie lover, or someone who has a ton of people coming over for the holiday.

Eric’s Take

8/10

This cookie bar was delicious. It’s really just a denser pecan pie that you can cut into bars. The big “short-cut” here was using cake mix for the bottom. The recipe called for a 18.25 ounce package. The problem with that is most cake mixes don’t come in that size. It’s difficult to account for measured conversions when baking with eggs, so I just ignored the fact I was missing some mix. This was used in the crust, which is baked first. The dough wasn’t the easiest to spread, but I eventually got it level. The mix was easy enough to put together, but in following the directions exactly I believe I over-mixed my “Filling” (The pecan/custard part). The directions called for mixing for a minute on low speed, then a minute on medium speed. This recipe was also very rich. A square inch of this bar is enough for me. Those last two reasons are why this recipe lost two points. Overall very good and they ended up being a crowd pleaser!

December 5, 2018
Cookbook Review: Energy Bites

Zoe’s Take:

7.5/10

I like these energy bites. They actually taste pretty good. I’m generally not a fan of dates, but i think pairing them with a variety of mix-ins created a homogeneous product that tasted good and didn’t throw my taste buds in any weird directions. The biggest problem I had with these are that they are incredibly messy to make (dates are crazy sticky) and more time consuming to make then what they actually are. They are pretty healthy and very sweet, so they work for a dessert if you’re trying to watch your sugar intake.

Eric’s Take

9/10

This was a fun recipe and tasted much better than I expected. I ended up making these for a party and they went very quickly. The only problem is they’re VERY heavy. I could only eat three on an empty stomach before I was full. I take this as a good thing. It’s a great and tasty way to get some energy without too much added sugar. They are incredibly messy to make, but you can utilize all the ingredients without much waste. The proportions were also well measured. This made it easy to half the recipe. Overall this was one of the best thought-out recipe we looked at this month.

November 29, 2018
#3: New Brunswick Slider

Zoe’s Take:

9.5/10

This was a really good slider that I was not actually expecting. The idea of using a ‘pot roast’ as slider meat seemed a little off to me at first. I’m so happy that I was wrong. Everything about these sliders was just SO GOOD. So why didn’t I give it a 10/10? Two reasons. The first reason is that it takes at least 5 hours to make between slow cooking the roast and making the sauce. The second reason is that I felt it needed something. Since I’m really into spicy and hot, I decided to switch out the pickled vegetables on top for my homemade candied jalapeno peppers. For me, that REALLY helped step the slider up to perfection. I definitely recommend you make this slider ASAP.

Eric’s Take:

9.5/10

This is my favorite recipe out of the cookbook so far! I’m kicking myself for not trying this at Epcot. The recipe for the pot roast is relatively basic. I decided to use my crockpot instead of a dutch oven. The sauce was really good too, I love Chinese mustard….which is basically Dijon mustard and horseradish. The lightly pickled vegetables added a great crunch to the sandwich. This recipe lost points on complexity. Similar to Zoe I felt it was a bit long to make the pot roast. Especially when considering the final product. For example, some roast beef would have been just as good and taken far less time. Overall great recipe!

November 20, 2018
#2: Bailey’s Milkshake

Zoe’s Take

4/10 original recipe
8/10 modified recipe

I dislike Guinness. I think that it just tastes really bad. So when I saw it was in this milkshake, I was not happy about it. So I made it. All I could taste was the Guinness in the original milkshake. I wouldn’t drink it past the first two sips. I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like it either. So I remade it. I switched the Guinness with milk (2%) and added an extra 2 TBSP of dark chocolate syrup. That simple switch made all the difference. Suddenly, something that tasted so bad was so good. With the milk, it felt like a real milkshake and actually tasted like something I could drink more regularly. So, if you like Guinness or Irish dry stouts, this recipe is for you. If you’re just about the awesome milkshake life, instead try my modified recipe.

Eric’s Take

6/10

I too am not a fan of Guinness. I didn’t mind the original recipe’s flavor though. The biggest problem for me was the proportions and instructions for this recipe. They seemed to phone it in on this one. The amount of liquid from the Guinness and Baileys made the drink too thin. I added a bit extra vanilla ice-cream to mine. In addition, instructions call for simply blending the ingredients. It seemed like there was a step missing. I also found it difficult to drizzle the chocolate syrup on the drink. That might have been the brand I was using though. I overall liked this recipe, I just think the instructions were laking.

November 14, 2018
#1: Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter, Caramelized Onions, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds Review

Zoe’s Take:

8/10

I really liked this ravioli. First off, I didn’t have to make pasta dough. The use of egg roll wrappers makes this recipe a lot easier for people who don’t necessarily know how to or have time to make pasta. The manchego cheese is what made the ravioli for me though. Butternut squash is good and all, but I love manchego cheese and it really helped the butternut squash become a fuller more nutty flavor. However, the real star of the show was the caramelized onions. Without them, the dish wouldn’t be as good in my opinion. I do think I would prefer that the ravioli be in pasta instead of egg roll wrappers however.

Eric’s Take

7.5/10

This was a great start to this cookbook review. This dish is very substantial. You only need a few ravioli to fill you up. The caramelized onion adds complexity to the otherwise fairly plain ravioli. The pumpkin seeds are more than just a garnish as they add texture to the dish. My only problem with the flavor of this recipe was that it was laking something to cut through the fattiness of all the butter. Brown butter is amazing, but on top of the buttery caramelized onions and ravioli filling, it was a lot. Some additional acidity may have been nice. I took liked the ease of the egg roll wrapper as a shortcut. However, if I were to make this recipe again I would probably make pasta dough. It’s relatively easy to make, and much easier to fill. The size of the ravioli in the recipe was also a problem for me. It was a good size, but very difficult to cut without a very small biscuit/cookie cutter, which most people don’t have.

November 7, 2018