Recipe Fails

Recipes aren't perfect. I find that all the time. Most times it's not a deal breaker situation. My dad always says that about homemade bread. Even if it's not perfect, it's never really bad enough to throw away.

But these recipes were just serious fails. I had such high hopes for each one, but as you'll see, they either didn't turn out at all, tasted - well - terrible, or flopped into a mess of chocolatey goodness.

Spicy Roasted Broccoli Penne

One shortcut might have been my downfall for this one. I adapted this recipe from Eat Well, a beautiful Williams-Sonoma cookbook. The recipe calls for making your own garlic bread crumbs, but I decided to use the Panko breadcrumbs I had in my pantry. Unfortunately, when I mixed it all together, the breadcrumbs turned into this weird mushy paste that was pretty gross.

I ate some because I needed dinner, but I didn't save the leftovers. Didn't really want to experience that gluey texture again, and it would probably be worse after reheating it.

Next Time:  Eat some garlic bread on the side. Nix the breadcrumbs completely. Maybe make it a little more saucy.

Vegan Chocolate Nutella Cookies

Look tasty, right? Yeah not so much. I adapted these from Jenna's Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies - which I'm sure are delicious. I was desperate for a cookie one Sunday afternoon, but I was leaving for the week the next morning and didn't want to grocery shop. No eggs? No butter? Cookie craving? That equals vegan cookie experiment in my kitchen.

I used Nutella instead of peanut butter and honey instead of maple syrup. I ate a bite of one and they were not delicious. Aren't cookies supposed to be sweet and moist? I decided to take another bite to give it a chance (and to try to quell my cookie craving) but it just wasn't going to happen.

Next Time: Get your ass to the store and buy some butter. Remember that vegan recipes are finicky and that you should follow them exactly as they are written.

Melty Chocolate Nutella Cake

Holy yum. I was so freaking excited about this recipe. Part of the reason I wanted to make it was because I'm always trying to figure out more ways to work Nutella into baking, but also because Matt loves molten cakes. I adapted this from Joy the Baker's recipe in Sunset Magazine, and I assumed that since she said you could substitue the peanut butter for bourbon that I could substitute the peanut butter for Nutella.

Maybe I was just over-eager, maybe I didn't trust my instincts, but the recipe says to pull it out when the sides of the cake are cooked and pulling away from the ramekin and the center has a shiny surface. I thought that's what I did but alas - I had a puddle of Nutella fudge on my plate.

Yes, I ate it. With a spoon. It was so delicious.

Next Time: Cook it longer! That's it! Patience, Katie!

I'm really happy that these all turned out the way they did because for every recipe that fails, I learn something else, and then I know how to make it work.

Except for those vegan cookies. It's going to take a really convincing vegan for me to cut eggs and butter out of my baking.