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Sweet

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe oneandahalfslices
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe oneandahalfslices

OneandahalfSlices has no shortage of chocolate chip cookie recipes – we’ve got your vegan chocolate chip cookies, your authoritative chocolate chip cookies (coming soon), and now what? Brown butter? What’s it for and is it worth it?

The short answer is yes. Browning your butter gives your dough or batter this deep earthy, nutty quality that is… delicious.

Okay, so is it difficult?

Absolutely not. Turns out the whole “brown butter” craze simply requires melting your butter stovetop until it begins to bubble, reduce, and turn – you guessed it – brown. 

So why wouldn’t you brown your butter?

At this point, I’m not sure. I’ll be browning my butter until further notice. In some recipes, like my French Madeleines, it is integral to the flavor of the batter, but in other cases (like chocolate chip cookies), it’s just plain tasty. This recipe yields about a dozen crispy cookie that is extra sweet and super flavorful.

what you need

1 stick of butter

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips of choice 

how to make it

Brown your butter. Place butter in a small saucepan stovetop over medium-high heat. Once it begins to bubble and chirp, stir it occasionally to ensure it does not burn. Remove butter from stove and place in separate container to cool once it turns caramel brown in color.

Mix the sugars into the melted butter with a whisk. Add the egg and the vanilla extract, and whisk another ~3 minutes. 

Add all the dry ingredients and combine with a rubber spatula until just mixed through. Do not overwork your dough or mix everything to death. There is no need. You’ll only give yourself a hand cramp.  

Finally, add the chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or whatever cacao varietal you have chosen. Scoop the cookies into 12 or so balls (don’t flatten these – they will spread out on their own) and cook on 350 for 11-12 minutes, cool on wire rack, and enjoy whilst warm!
More Chocolate Chip Cookies
One and a half Slices cookies

Oatmeal Everything Cookies

This is a super versatile, unique, hearty cookie recipe with very low sugar. They’ve got just about everything you could want in a cookie – coconut, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, chocolate chips. You can swap in and out things you may prefer – like pecans or chopped hazelnuts, different kinds of chocolate chips, etc. You could probably cut the sugar more if you used, say, golden raisins or dried blueberries, which are quite a bit sweeter than the cranberries. The higher the cacao percentage of your chocolate, also, the less sweet the cookies will be. I’ve made them with 100% bars before all chipped up and the rich, cacao-forward flavor is incredible. In short, get fancy. Play around. Make these your weeknight go-to cookie. And keep some in the freezer for late night cravings or, idk, breakfast… 🍪

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March 26, 2022 No Comments
vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe one and a half slices

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ah, the elusive and controversial – almost biblical – chocolate chip cookie. There are sure to be several chocolate chip cookie posts on this blog before we are through. For a while there, I was captivated by the dueling flours of Jacques Torres chocolate chips cookies, popularized by the New York Times. I still maintain that the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever had is found in central Manhattan on the counters of Culture Espresso. But I am happy to say that my current favorite chocolate chip cookie is vegan! Accidentally, as it turns out. I did not make this recipe because it was vegan, but it turned out to be one of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted.

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May 2, 2021 1 Comment
chocolate chip cookie recipe oneandahalfslices

JT Chocolate Chip Cookies

A few years back, thanks in large part to the New York Times, the baking world coalesced around Manhattan-based Chocolatier Jacques Torres’ chocolate chip cookie recipe, with its large, angular baking chips and its flat, disc-like appearance. And they were not wrong. Jacques Torres cookies are everything a cookie should be – large, crispy, with a perfectly balanced flavor and excellent chip-to-dough ratio. No complaints. Well, one complaint. Two flours are required, neither of which you are already likely to own. But if you make these a few times a year to freeze single-serving-style, it’s worth it to go the extra mile on the flour front. Bottom line, this is a reliable cookie that will not disappoint.

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May 15, 2022 No Comments
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Sweet

French Madeleines

french madeleine cake recipe proust one and a half slices
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

French Madeleine Tea Cakes

Or 'The Remembrance of Things"

tea cake cookie recipe one and a half slices french

“Will it ultimately reach the clear surface of my consciousness, this memory, this old, dead moment which the magnetism of an identical moment has travelled so far to importune, to disturb, to raise up out of the very depths of my being? I cannot tell. Now that I feel nothing, it has stopped, has perhaps gone down again into its darkness, from which who can say whether it will ever rise? Ten times over I must essay the task, must lean down over the abyss. And each time the natural laziness which deters us from every difficult enterprise, every work of importance, has urged me to leave the thing alone, to drink my tea and to think merely of the worries of to-day and of my hopes for tomorrow, which let themselves be pondered over without effort or distress of mind.

And suddenly the memory returns. The taste was that of the little crumb of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go out before church-time), when I went to say good day to her in her bedroom, my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of real or of lime-flower tea. The sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted it; perhaps because I had so often seen such things in the interval, without tasting them, on the trays in pastry-cooks’ windows, that their image had dissociated itself from those Combray days to take its place among others more recent; perhaps because of those memories, so long abandoned and put out of mind, nothing now survived, everything was scattered; the forms of things, including that of the little scallop-shell of pastry, so richly sensual under its severe, religious folds, were either obliterated or had been so long dormant as to have lost the power of expansion which would have allowed them to resume their place in my consciousness. But when from a longdistant past nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, still, alone, more fragile, but with more vitality, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, the smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us, waiting and hoping for their moment, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unfaltering, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.

And once I had recognized the taste of the crumb of madeleine soaked in her decoction of lime-flowers which my aunt used to give me (although I did not yet know and must long postpone the discovery of why this memory made me so happy) immediately the old grey house upon the street, where her room was, rose up like the scenery of a theatre to attach itself to the little pavilion, opening on to the garden, which had been built out behind it for my parents (the isolated panel which until that moment had been all that I could see); and with the house the town, from morning to night and in all weathers, the Square where I was sent before luncheon, the streets along which I used to run errands, the country roads we took when it was fine. And just as the Japanese amuse themselves by filling a porcelain bowl with water and steeping in it little crumbs of paper which until then are without character or form, but, the moment they become wet, stretch themselves and bend, take on colour and distinctive shape, become flowers or houses or people, permanent and recognisable, so in that moment all the flowers in our garden and in M. Swann’s park, and the water-lilies on the Vivonne and the good folk of the village and their little dwellings and the parish church and the whole of Combray and of its surroundings, taking their proper shapes and growing solid, sprang into being, town and gardens alike, all from my cup of tea.”

– Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time, Swann’s Way (1913)

what you need

7 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 cup flour, sifted (feel free to use pastry flour or cake flour if you have it)

2 large eggs

lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 Madeleine pan

how to make it

If desired, brown the butter in a saucepan; otherwise, simply melt the butter and let it stand to room temperature. 

Beat eggs and sugar together for ~8-10 minutes until it becomes fluffy, yellow, and ribbons run through it when a beater is removed. This is what makes a Madeleine a Madeleine – the fluffy, airy, egg beating process. 

Mix in the vanilla extract and the lemon zest. Then sift the flour and baking powder over the mixture, folding in with a rubber spatula, careful not to deflate or overmix the batter. 

Cover and chill the dough for 1 hour. In the meantime, brush each Madeleine divot in the pan with melted butter and preheat the oven to 350.

When the dough is ready, spoon about a tablespoon into each Madeleine divot, careful not to overfill the little molds. The dough will spread out quite a bit, so just one tablespoon in the center of the mold will suffice. The dough will be sticky and thick. 

Cook the Madeleines for ~8-10 minutes, or until the little edges just begin to brown. Remove and let cool in their tins before extracting them and sprinkling them with powdered sugar. Sere immediately.

Other Literature-Inspired Sweets
one and a half slices harry potter recipe butterbeer hogwarts winter grog

Butterbeer (iced)

Whether you like your butterbeer hot, iced, boozy, or clean, I’ve finally got the recipe for you. #youreawizardharry 🪄

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October 14, 2024 1 Comment
one and a half slices harry potter recipe butterbeer hogwarts winter grog

Butterbeer (hot)

Whether you like your butterbeer hot, iced, boozy, or clean, I’ve finally got the recipe for you. Personally, I see no way to drink it other than hot and boozy. #youreawizardharry 🪄

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October 1, 2024 1 Comment
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Cocktail

City of Jewels Sidecar

sidecar recipe jewels blood oranges oneandahalfslices
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

'City of Jewels' Sidecar

sidecar recipe jewels blood oranges oneandahalfslices

This is a unique, festive twist on a classic Sidecar cocktail, which makes it great for the holidays. We incorporate the lavish blood orange to elevate the flavors. A classic Sidecar contains cognac, orange liquor, and lemon juice. Here, we substitute blood orange juice for lemon juice and use Solerno blood orange liquor instead of Cointreau. 

[ sidenote on the definition of Cognac… Cognac is brandy made in the region of Cognac, France. Brandy – a distilled wine spirit – can be made anywhere. This is similar to Champagne which can only be made in the Champagne region of France. It goes by other names (Cava (Spain), Prosecco (Italy)) when produced elsewhere ]

As we get close to the holidays, we are all looking for the something special to put on the table. For some, it’s a fun side dish. For others, it’s the centerpiece (a Christmas goose or rack of lamb). Still for others, it will be that speakeasy-grade cocktail that people will remember for years to come. This is that cocktail. 

Not to get all Yogic on you guys, but Manipura, the third chakra associated with the fire element, is translated from Sanskrit to mean “City of Jewels.” In Vinyasa yoga classes, it is frequently the chakra associated with the intensity of holding positions, such as planks, to generate ‘burn’ within the workout. I called this Sidecar The City of Jewels because it has that intensity, that sweet, intricate balance of citrus and velvet smooth. Plus, the rim is sparkly.

💎

what you need

1 1/2 oz Brandy or Cognac of choice (Courvoisier will do just fine)

3/4 oz Solerno blood orange liquor

3/4 oz blood orange juice

Garnish: Blood orange wedge, thyme sprig, and/or cinnamon sugar rim

how to make it

If you want to rim your cocktail glass, run the blood orange around the edge then dip it in a cinnamon/sugar mixture. 

Combine all liquids in a cocktail shaker with a thyme sprig, if desired, and shake vigorously with ice.

Pour into cocktail glass, garnish, and serve!
Other Cocktails
one and a half slices harry potter recipe butterbeer hogwarts winter grog

Butterbeer (hot)

Whether you like your butterbeer hot, iced, boozy, or clean, I’ve finally got the recipe for you. Personally, I see no way to drink it other than hot and boozy. #youreawizardharry 🪄

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October 1, 2024 1 Comment
one and a half slices blood and sand classic cocktail recipe scotch whiskey

Blood and Sand

Blood and Sand Whether it is the last of the fall leaves or the #wintervibes, for whatever reason what I woke up craving today was a scotch-based beverage. Not bourbon. Scotch. And yes, when I say I woke up craving it, I mean to say I wanted scotch before coffee. Blood and Sand is a cocktail that’s been around since about 1930. I adjust it slightly to make it more to my liking – less

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November 20, 2022 No Comments
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Sweet

Sweet Potato Pie

sweet potato pie Thanksgiving oneandahalfslices
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Sweet Potato Pie

sweet potato pie Thanksgiving oneandahalfslices

The first time I had sweet potato pie was in college at the University of Florida. I went to the Wednesday afternoon farmer’s market and spent $4 on a miniature pie from a local pie shop. At the time, the idea of a sweet potato pie struck me as odd, as a baked potato pie might, but I took a chance. What hit my mouth was an exquisite, sweet, smooth rendition of sweet potatoes like I had never tasted them before. And suddenly, just like that, I was a sweet potato pie fan (not convert, mind you, because my locally-sourced pumpkin pie is an all-time fav). Naturally, given that we’re in spooky season, I asked The Piemaker to tackle this one since I had pumpkin covered. And man, did he deliver. We made the CSA happy as well with its falltime mandate to consume 4 lbs of sweet potatoes per patron per week given the surplus. So if you’ve never tried sweet potato pie, I challenge you to give it a chance. If you’ve never made a pie from the actual vegetable/fruit and usually buy canned filling, I challenge you to give that a chance. In any event, this is a great place to start. Happy Fall! 🍂

what you need

Dough

**this is the Serious Eats pie dough recipe and we will be using it again

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

2 1/2 sticks salted butter, cut into pats

6 tablespoons (ish) ice cold water

Filling

1 pound sweet potatoes

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temp

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup whole milk

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

pinch of clove

heavy whipping cream

🍁

how to make it

Dough

Place about two thirds of the flour, all of the sugar, and the salt into a food processor and pulse twice to mix. Then spread the butter pats evenly across the surface and pulse until the dough just begins to come together. Sprinkle the remaining flour on the surface and pulse again until just incorporated. 

Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with the water 1-2 tablespoons at a time. Using a rubber spatula, work the water into the dough so it begins to hold together. Do not overwork your dough. 

Once incorporated, divide into two disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for ~2 hours. Remove from fridge, roll out on floured surface, and place in pie dish. For this pie, we did not par bake this crust.

Filling

Preheat the oven to 400 and bake sweet potatoes wrapped in foil for 45-60 minutes depending on size. You should poke your sweet potatoes with a fork and be sure to place them on a sheet pan because they tend to leak sweet stickiness all over your oven. 

Allow sweet potatoes to cool completely and then puree the flesh in the food processor, lowering the oven temperature to 350. Add remaining ingredients to the food processor and puree until smooth and combined. Check for flavor. 

Pour filling into the crust and bake for 50-60 minutes until a knife comes out clean. 

We are partial to homemade whipped cream for topping, sometimes adding cinnamon or maple syrup for extra flavor. A torched meringue, however, would really take this up a notch. 
More from The Piemaker
pecan pie recipe maple bourbon one and a half slices

Pecan Pie

This is the dessert for the Whiskey Pairing Dinner generously provided by The Piemaker. I’ve never been a huge pecan pie fan (nor was I a big Key Lime Pie fan) until The Piemaker came into my life. This pecan pie is as ‘from scratch’ as it comes, with hints of bourbon and maple folded into the filling, served with a luxurious maple cinnamon cream. This is a decadent dessert – decadent is an understatement. But if you’re looking to level up your Holiday meal game, this is the place to start. We definitely felt the need to eat one and a half slices… 😃

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November 15, 2021 3 Comments
one and a half slices key lime pie florida summer recipe

Key Lime Pie

This pie is spring and summer, Florida, and sunshine in dessert form. It is as light and airy as crisp, springtime air, with a tangy, vibrant flavor reminiscent of the place where Key Limes originate – The Florida Keys. It also isn’t sickeningly sweet like so many restaurant-grade key lime pies.

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August 9, 2024 1 Comment
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Sweet

Pecan Pie

pecan pie recipe maple bourbon one and a half slices
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

(Bourbon Maple) Pecan Pie

From the @whiskey_CA_mmelier Collaboration Dinner

pecan pie recipe maple bourbon one and a half slices

This is the dessert for the Whiskey Pairing Dinner generously provided by The Piemaker. I’ve never been a huge pecan pie fan (nor was I a big Key Lime Pie fan) until The Piemaker came into my life. This pecan pie is as ‘from scratch’ as it comes, with hints of bourbon and maple folded into the filling, served with a luxurious maple cinnamon cream. This is a decadent dessert – decadent is an understatement. But if you’re looking to level up your Holiday meal game, this is the place to start. We definitely felt the need to eat one and a half slices….. Pairing. For dessert, @whiskey_CA_mmelier wanted a really luxurious and unique bourbon to complement the salty pecans, salty crust, and sweet filling. We narrowed it down to two, both from Calumet Farm. The 15 year was treating us all well but the general consensus ended up being the Small Batch. 

🥧

what you need

Dough

**this is the Serious Eats pie dough recipe and we will be using it again

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

2 1/2 sticks salted butter, cut into pats

6 tablespoons (ish) ice cold water

Filling

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup salted butter

3 cups pecans; coarsely chop 2 cups and leave the third cup whole

To Serve. Pour half a cup of heavy whipping cream into a mix bowl and mix with a hand mixer on high until loose peaks form. Add 1 tablespoon of maple syrup and a dash of cinnamon powder, and mix for another ~30 seconds until well combined. This is your maple cinnamon cream for serving. 

Pairing. Calumet Farm Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky.

how to make it

Dough.

Place about two thirds of the flour, all of the sugar, and the salt into a food processor and pulse twice to mix. Then spread the butter pats evenly across the surface and pulse until the dough just begins to come together. Sprinkle the remaining flour on the surface and pulse again until just incorporated. 

Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with the water 1-2 tablespoons at a time. Using a rubber spatula, work the water into the dough so it begins to hold together. Do not overwork your dough. 

Once incorporated, divide into two disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for ~2 hours. Remove from fridge, roll out, and place in pie pan. *Note: you want this crust slightly salty as the pecan pie filling is quite sweet, so if you don’t use salted butter, be sure to add a little extra salt.

Pie.

Heat oven to 400. Par bake the pie crust for 15 minutes in heated oven using pie weights (or dried beans in my case) to weigh it down. Remove from oven and lower temperature to 350.

Whisk together sugar, maple syrup, corn syrup, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Add eggs and whisk thoroughly until combined. Brown butter in saucepan over medium-high heat (until it turns brown… stirring so as not to burn). Gradually pour butter into the egg mixture (slowly… so as not to scramble your egg!).  Mix in the two cups of chopped pecans.

Spoon pecan mixture into pie crust. Now you’re going to use that last cup of whole pecans to get super fancy, placing them around the top of the pie so the end product looks as pictured. 

Bake for 20 minutes in the oven, then remove from oven and cover with tinfoil so the crusts do not burn. Another 30 minutes in the oven and the middle should be set. Let cool and serve at room temperature with the fresh maple cinnamon cream!
More from the Collab Dinner
pot roast recipe one and a half slices whisky pairing

Pot Roast

This is the main course for the Whiskey Pairing Dinner and, my, what a deep, flavorful pot roast this is! Let me start by saying that I sourced a 4.6 pound chuck roast from the Spring House Farm Store to feed the four of us and had no regrets. A simple pot roast is easy enough to pull off especially if you have a slow cooker, but this really takes the flavor profile up a notch to make this velvety, sinful, fall-off-your-fork roast with plenty of fall veggies.

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November 14, 2021 3 Comments
brussels sprout recipe whiskey pairing whisky one and a half slices

Spicy Brussels

Brussels Sprouts are one of our favorite falltime veggies, especially when they’re made crispy. There are so many unique toppings for sprouts (sprouts!) that they’ll never get boring. Here they are paired with a round, fruit-forward Orkney Island Scotch Whiskey to really accentuate their sweetness.

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November 14, 2021 2 Comments
one and a half slices sazerac rye whiskey rcipe

Sazerac

This is the opening cocktail for the Whiskey Pairing Dinner. The Rye Sazerac is one of the oldest, prohibition-era cocktails. It’s classic, elegant, and simple. With rye whiskey, lemon, absinthe, and bitters, a Sazerac is as refined as a cocktail can be. Here we present this  simple cocktail recipe as a forward to the rest of a classic meal. The absinthe on the nose provides an interesting twist to a classically whiskey-based cocktail. We used Sazerac Rye as the base.

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November 13, 2021 3 Comments
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Collabs

whiskey_ca_mellier Dinner

one and a half slices dinner table recipe collaboration whiskey pairing
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Whisky Pairing Dinner!

one and a half slices recipes local delicious food

+

whiskey_ca_mmelier Instagram one and a half slices collaboration pairing dinner recipes
one and a half slices dinner table recipe collaboration whiskey pairing

We have some exciting news for Fall 2021 (and… ahem… some even more exciting news for Fall 2022… but more on that later). OneandahalfSlices is hosting its first collaboration event with whiskey blogger @whiskey_ca_mellier (ca_me·lier(səməlˈyā(n)))! Here is what you need to know:

  1. If you don’t follow OneandahalfSlices on Instagram, go do that now!
  2. If you don’t follow whiskey_ca_mellier on Instagram and want to constantly be learning about new and delicious bourbon, go follow him now!
  3. Okay, now that all the following is out of the way… the dinner. On Saturday, 13 November 2021, we will be cooking a three course dinner here at OneandahalfSlices Global HQ and serving it up with a perfect whiskey pairing – bourbon, scotch, and rye all fair game. We will then roll out the recipes for each course and the respective pairing right here on OneandahalfSlices and on both Instagram accounts. 
Menu Reveal

To Start. Rye Sazerac.

The Opener. Spicy Brussel Sprouts + Lightly Peated Scotch.

The Primary. Traditional Pot Roast + Aged Bourbon.

The Sweet. Pecan Pie with Maple Cream + Rye Whiskey.
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Sweet

WFD Bars

chocolate recipe on one and a half slices
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Whipplescrumptious Fundgemallow Delight Bars

one and a half slices best chocolate bar

Okay, what?! What are those words? What is this chocolat-y gooeyness? And why?? I mean, yes!, but why?!

When I was a kid, I was a huge sugar fiend. My mother had a sort of unwritten rule in the house about no processed sugar anywhere – no soda, breakfast cereal, candies, gummies, or Hostess cakes. If we were to have dessert, we were to make it from scratch – banana bread (recipe coming soon), lemon cake, peach melba, chocolate chip cookies. While I agree 100% with this philosophy, it may have exacerbated my particular problem as I would go to friends’ houses and pour Coca Cola into Cocoa Pebbles and eat Oatmeal Cream Pies and Fruit Rollups by the box, taking advantage of my friends’ parents lack of attentiveness to our sugar intake. 

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was never my favorite movie but I was fascinated by the sugar-laced fantasy world the film brought to life. I can still picture Gene Wilder dancing through a field of sugary grass and daisies around a stream of milk chocolate, plucking a yellow tulip from its stem, using it as a teacup, then crunching into the cup itself like brittle, lemon hard candy. 🍋🌷 To me, the best part of any movie – especially a fantasy movie – is the scene setting. The Great Hall scenes in Harry Potter where the feast is served or the candy selection on the train. The Medieval fare (turkey legs, whole roasted pigs, red grapes, unleavened bread loaves, hard cheese wheels) scattered around Viking halls. The same is true for videogames. It is these little details that bring a world to life. In the case of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the world was a saccharine, glazed, and sprinkled childhood wonder – like an Old Fashioned Soda Shoppe spilled out into the world for the taking. Brown cows and milkshakes, licorice laces and hard candies. Taffy.

I always liked the concept of a chocolate bar more than the chocolate bar itself. Something about the tinfoil waiting to be torn off. Something about the pristine molding. It was art. I almost didn’t want to eat it. 🍫🍫🍫 So when Charlie Bucket tore the tinfoil from a Willy Wonka chocolate bar, I was captivated. Then Johnny Depp got involved and I was even more captivated. That golden ticket Whipplescrumptious Fundgemallow Delight Bar became a symbol of the impossible – the intoxicating world where sugar was everywhere for the taking. Where it formed the very structure of the world from mountains to streams. Where it did not make one sick but cured all ills, like chocolate frogs in Harry Potter. 

🚗🚙🚛

Fast forward to 2021. The Piemaker and I are on a road trip. An exceptionally long road trip. 13 hours in the car with anyone will leave you wanting for conversation topics especially when the journey begins between the witching hours of midnight and 3am. The final stint between Fredericksburg and Northern Virginia found us arguing full tilt over the identity of Willy Wonka’s Whipplescrumptious Fudegmallow Delight Bar. What was it? What did “whipplescrumptious” mean? “Fudgemallow” was simple enough to unpack but what innovation, what variation on the theme of a Milky Way or a chocolate-covered graham, did “whipplescrumptious” imply? I had my thoughts as did the Piemaker. So silicone molds were purchased en route (on Amazon) and plans were made for a Whipplescrumptious competition. But then we got home, got busy, and forgot about the punchdrunk roadtrip rivalry until this weekend when I found the molds in the bottom of a kitchen drawer and decided to make good on the planned experimentation. After two failed batches of Sponge Candy – a candy with which I am intimately familiar given my two year residence in Erie, Pennsylvania – I arrived at a decent interpretation of the Whipplescrumptious Fudgemallow Delight Bar. Another variation may yet await us but the Piemaker is strongly in favor of this version. He did comment that the sponge candy is too sticky and slightly burnt on its own but integrates into the bar beautifully. For my part, I was just excited to revisit a childhood fantasy. And of course, I wrapped the bars in foil. 

what you need

2 packages (20 oz) milk, semisweet, or dark chocolate baking chips or wafers. I prefer Ghirardelli Milk Baking Chips for chocolate bars

2 trays of silicone chocolate bar molds with ~1/2″ depth (I used these)

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1/2 tablespoon salted butter

1 cup crumbled honeycomb candy (or graham crackers in a pinch)

For honeycomb candy:

1 1/8 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup honey

Dash of cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 tablespoon baking soda

how to make it

1. Chocolate. Melt 1 package of the chocolate in a double boiler (for me, this is a metal mixing bowl floating in a small saucepan filled with water. Elegant, I know). Once melted, spoon the chocolate evenly into each chocolate bar in the molds (~1 generous tablespoon per bar). Toss and catch the chocolate molds lightly in your hands so the chocolate settles to the bottom, then place in refrigerator to chill.

chocolate bar molds for one and a half slices

2. Honeycomb Candy. Place sugar, honey, vanilla, and cinnamon in saucepan over high heat and stir continuously as it begins to melt. Heat the mixture to 300 degrees (I used my meat thermometer as I do not own a candy thermometer. Make sure it gets hot enough or it won’t set!). Over high heat, this should take approximately 3-5 minutes. The mixture will smell fantastic and become a deep amber color. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the baking soda, noting that the mixture will froth, foam, and triple in size as you do so. Quickly pour the mixture onto a cutting board covered in wax paper and let it cool. It should be hard, crunchy, and ready for you to hit with something to break apart in 5-10 minutes. 

3. Marshmallow. Melt the two cups of marshmallows with 1/2 tablespoon of salted butter in a saucepan until just a few small lumps remain. Turn off heat.

4. Chocolate Bar. Remove chilled chocolate bars from the fridge. Carefully. use a butter knife or small silicone spatula (and your finger) to smear a small swath of marshmallow over the chocolate. Don’t swirl it around too much as the hot marshmallow will melt the chocolate. Do this for all bars in the molds. Sprinkle small, cracked pieces of honeycomb candy over the marshmallow for each bar. Chill molds. This step is messy. There was marshmallow in my hair. There was marshmallow on Aspen. There was marshmallow in the coffee maker the next morning.

marshmallow chocolate bars on one and a half slices

5. Finish. Melt the remaining batch of chocolate just like before. Remove molds from the fridge and spoon chocolate over each bar, spreading out to cover the majority of the filling, and repeating the toss-and-catch technique to settle the chocolate in the mold before chilling. Chill until set, ~30-60 minutes, wrap individually in tinfoil, and serve/gift! 🍫🍫🍫
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one and a half slices banana bread recipe mom

Banana Bread

This delicious and simple banana bread is the timeless treat you want with your morning coffee, your afternoon tea, or just after dinner. It has a rightful place on my food blog because my mother made this recipe nearly every other Sunday growing up. There would always be a fresh loaf of banana bread in the house – her version has the golden raisins which is how I make it to this day. And it even freezes well! That’s right, throw a fresh (cooled) loaf in some plastic wrap and put it in the freezer to enjoy a few weeks later. That is, assuming there is any left. 😉

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August 15, 2024 2 Comments

Crispy Waffles

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I like crispy waffles. The fluffy, puffy, overly-leavened Belgian waffle never did it for me. As it turns out, there are many different kinds of waffles: Brussels waffles (puffy), American waffles (think Holiday Inn breakfast), Liege waffles (half-formed super sweet waffle-cookies), Galette or Stroop Waffles (the thin, crispy, sometimes caramel-filled cookies). Until the X French Toast experience, adventures in waffling was my favorite morningtime breakfast activity. Oddly enough, my preferred waffle is a crispy version of a Norwegian or Scandinavian waffle.

A Norwegian waffle is typically made in a heart-shaped iron and is thinner than most waffles. Upon discovering my preference, I was overjoyed to poshly note my predilection for a Scandavian culinary experience. Until the Piemaker informed me that my waffle preference mapped to the all-American Waffle House waffle. I’ve still never been to a Waffle House (don’t want to get mugged), but Googling has confirmed that, indeed, I like Waffle House waffles. Without further ado, I give you my recipe for perfectly crispy, Norwegian, Scandinavian, or Waffle House waffles (made in a heart-shaped, diamond-laden waffle iron from the 1970s, courtesy of the parents).

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January 10, 2025 4 Comments
chocolate recipe on one and a half slices

WFD Bars

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was never my favorite movie but the final stint of an exceptionally long road trip left the Piemaker and I arguing full tilt over the identity of Willy Wonka’s Whipplescrumptious Fudegmallow Delight Bar. What was it? What did “whipplescrumptious” mean? “Fudgemallow” was simple enough to unpack but what innovation, what variation on the theme of a Milky Way or a chocolate-covered graham, did “whipplescrumptious” imply? After two failed batches of Sponge Candy – a candy with which I am intimately familiar given my two year residence in Erie, Pennsylvania – I arrived at a decent interpretation of the Whipplescrumptious Fudgemallow Delight Bar. You don’t have to have experience with candies to make this work (I didn’t!).

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September 25, 2021 2 Comments
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Flaky Cobbler

skillet berry fruit cobbler easy oneandahalfslices
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Flaky Stone Fruit Cobbler

skillet berry fruit cobbler easy oneandahalfslices

We find ourselves mid-way through summer with a plethora of beautiful fruits like blueberries, blackberries, peaches, and plums. The stone fruits – peaches, nectarines, apricots, and plums – are delicate fruits with high water content that break down quickly in heat, making them ideal for pies, cobblers, and the like. With two boxes full of fresh peaches and plums from the CSA, I started hunting for a cobbler recipe to accompany fresh sausages and grilled summer squash for a Fourth of July meal. While I would usually favor a biscuit-based cobbler recipe, this one looked interesting and warranted my investigation. It did not disappoint. Sweet and flaky up top, juicy beneath, and great with fresh whipped cream or a dollop of vanilla gelato. This is a super quick and simple cobbler you can churn out on demand – and trust me… it will be on demand. Recipe credit to the Smitten Kitchen.

what you need

🍑2-2.5 pounds fruit (stone fruits like peaches and plums, berries, or even apples)

🍋Juice from half a lemon (plus zest)

🧈4 tablespoons butter

🍥1/2-3/4 cup sugar

🍞1 1/4 cup flour

🧂1 teaspoon baking powder

🧂1 teaspoon cinnamon

🧂1/2 teaspoon salt (can omit if using salted butter)

🥛1/2 cup whole milk

🧊1/4 cup hot water

🍦Vanilla ice cream or gelato, and cinnamon for serving (I like Talenti Tahitian Vanilla)

how to make it

Heat oven to 350 and ready a 9″ cast iron skillet. Slice the stone fruits and arrange them in the skillet. Squeeze lemon juice, and sprinkle lemon zest and cinnamon over top of fruits. 

In separate bowl, beat butter and sugar together. Add flour, baking powder, and salt until all well combined. Add milk and beat until fluffy. 

Dollop the batter over the fruit and then spread it out so it forms a lid. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar and then pour hot water over the top. Bake for an hour or until the lid is golden brown, then let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving. 

Serve with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
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Lemon Cake

OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Little Lemon Cake

This is the most delicate of desserts or afternoon tea accompaniment. It is subtle, zesty, citrus-y, sunshine goodness baked in a tin and served with a dollop of Chantilly cream, a fresh strawberry, or a tangy raspberry. It is all the sweet you need and lets the lemon carry the day, as any well-crafted dessert should. So channel your French simplicity, pour some Earl Grey, and go with the lightest lemon cake for dessert this summer. It is also super moist. It’s one of my favorites and you can whip it up in half an hour, so it makes the perfect last minute dessert if all you have in the fridge are lemons! 🍋🍋🍋

what you need

juice from 2 lemons

1-2 tablespoons lemon zest

1/2 cup almond flour

1 cup all purpose or cake flour

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup whole milk (or Greek yogurt in a pinch)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

how to make it

Preheat oven to 350. Place a parchment paper sheet in the bottom of a 9 inch pan or grease the pan well with butter and a dusting of flour. 

Cream slightly softened butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Beat in eggs until just combined. Add vanilla, nutmeg, lemon juice, lemon zest, milk, and stir. 

Stir in both flours and baking powder until just combined. Transfer mixture to cake tin and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the middle is just set. The mixture will be thick. 

Top with fresh strawberries, fresh whipped cream, fresh raspberries, or a small dollop of vanilla gelato. You can also dust with powdered sugar just before serving. This is not an intensely sweet cake so the powdered sugar can sweeten it up a bit if it’s too tart.

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Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe one and a half slices
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe one and a half slices

Ah, the elusive and controversial – almost biblical – chocolate chip cookie. There are sure to be several chocolate chip cookie posts on this blog before we are through. For a while there, I was captivated by the dueling flours of Jacques Torres chocolate chips cookies, popularized by the New York Times.  I still maintain that the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever had is found in central Manhattan on the counters of Culture Espresso. But I am happy to say that my current favorite chocolate chip cookie is vegan! Accidentally, as it turns out. I did not make this recipe because it was vegan, but it turned out to be one of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted. When it comes to cookies, I am not personally concerned with thickness, but I do err on the side of crispy as opposed to chewy. These came out piled a bit higher than I might have liked but the texture is perfect – crispy on the outside with a traditional baked goods interior. And… the best part is…no butter!

what you need

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (see note below)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use safflower)

1/4 cup water

Note on chocolate chips: Chocolate chips can fundamentally change a cookie. I prefer different types depending on my mood – from teeny, tiny miniature chips to oversized, large chocolate baking disks. These were made with your average-sized chip. In any case, 50% cacao or more is recommended. I usually buy Guittard chips (with Ghirardelli chips coming in a close second). These are made with Guittard Semisweets (orange package), but I am also quite fond of Guittard Akomas (pink package) and Guittard Extra Darks (red package). There is always the option to use closer to 85% cacao bars and chip them up yourself. 

how to make it

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk dry ingredients (excluding both sugars) together in small mixing bowl and mix in the chocolate chips. 

In large bowl, whisk together the oil and sugars or beat with a hand mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy, ~3-5 minutes.

Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and stir until just combined, careful not to overwork the dough. Form dough into 1-1 1/2 inch balls.  

Bake cookies for 10-15 minutes (mine take a little longer after freezing). 

Cookie hack!: If you’re like me, you a) want a cookie every single night of the week, and b) will by all means eat an entire tray (or package) of cookies if such an option is provided. Cookie hack: Make one (1) batch of cookies, freeze all cookies, and take them out, one at a time, one day at a time. Bottom line is you are supposed to chill the cookies for 12 hours before baking.  I tend to make one or two right out of the shoot and they are great. They cook in 10-12 minutes. When you do freeze them, however, they will take more on the order of 15-20 minutes to cook through. You want them light brown on top. 

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