What's Cookin': Dessert

Alright, another year of Jackrabbit football is upon us. We are celebrating at Jackrabbit Illustrated, this our 5th season covering the team.  The players who we first covered as freshmen are now redshirt seniors. We hope you are as excited as us for this upcoming season. Chef Tim, a culinary instructor at Mitchell Tech and contributing writer, has some fun recipes for you this season.  He has committed to doing one a week. I have nothing but faith that he will get them turned in!

We start the season celebrating with celebrations. Here are some fun baked goods that will lead to the healthy start to the season;

Cherry-Chocolate Chunk Cookies

• ½ Cup All-Purpose Flour
• ¼ Cup Quick-Cooking Oats
• ½ Teaspoon baking Soda
• Pinch of Salt
• 2 tbs butter, melted and cooled
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla Extract
• 2 oz semisweet chocolate
• 1/3 cup dried cherries

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray large baking sheet with nonstick spray.

2) Combine Flour, Oats, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl; set aside. With electric mixer low, beat melted butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla in a medium own until well blended. Add flour mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in cherries and cranberries.

3) Drop dough by level tablespoonfuls onto baking sheet, making 12 mounds, and leaving 2 inches between them. Keep in mind, much like going for the block kick eating raw cookie dough has risks, but I might try a little bite just to ensure quality. Not always recommended though. You are going to probably bake for 10 minutes but looking for browned edges. Pull out of the oven and let rest for one minute at room temperature. Then get them on a cooling rack. Stores fresh in a container for two days at room temp.

Fudge Brownies with Almonds

• 3 tbs unsalted butter
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 ½ tsp instant espresso
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup ap flour
• 2/3 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¾ cup sliced almonds

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 8-inch-square baking pan with foil, allowing foil to extend over rim of pan by 2 inches. Spray foil with nonstick spray.

2) Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in cocoa, espresso, and vanilla. Let cool, then mix in the sugar and eggs.

3) Whisk together, flour baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Combine flour mixture to cocoa mixture, stirring just until blended. Scrape batter into baking pan and level top. Bake for 20 minutes, pull out and sprinkle with almond slivers. Bake for 5 more minutes.

4) Cool brownies on a rack. The foil will allow you to extract brownies. Cut to desired pieces. I recommend 10. Stores airtight for about 2 days.

It should be another great fall of Jackrabbit football!  Let's pack Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium and as always... block that kick!

-Tim