Baked in Brooklyn

Sarah and I are in Brooklyn…finally.  I won’t go into too much detail because it will just get me worked up, but it was a bit of a nightmare.  Cancelled flights, 180 people on stand-by, an unplanned night in Dallas, a 6:40 am flight the next day, lost baggage, horribly unhelpful  AA baggage people, and now items are mysteriously missing out of my suitcase.  This was not the best travel experience.

Thankfully, we are here now and having a great time visiting my sister Lisa, my brother-in-law Randy and our 10 week old niece Maren.  Isn’t she amazingly cute?  She has the most rockin’ hair I have ever seen.  She is a whopping 9 pounds now, and quite fun to be around.

This morning while driving around Brooklyn we stopped in Baked, a bakery in Red Hook, to pick up some goodies.  Here is a link to their site.  Sarah had heard of their salted brownies; caramel and fleur-de-sel in a chocolate-y brownie.  I’d read that they also had incredible whoopie pies.

The bakery is a little funky and very cool.  The door is orange with an animal antler handle.  Inside the decor consists of white deer heads on the walls, orange details and warm wooden tables and wood grain walls and tables.  A crystal chandelier hangs above the counter to soften the manliness of the place.

Unfortunately the salted caramel brownie that we came here for was not on the menu today.  However, Sarah and I are not quitters, and we will not give up just because of a slight disappointment.  So we chose an assortment of treats to sample and share with each other.

Here is a tray of most of the goodies. Clockwise from top left are the s’more nut bar, rosemary apricot bar, oatmeal cookie, chocolate cookie, chocolate whoopie pie with vanilla cream filling, and mini Red Velvet cupcake.  Not pictured but very delicious are the banana whoopie pie, lemon pistachio vegan cookie and the Brewer’s brownie made with brewers malt.

S’more Nut Bar:  A slightly sweet graham cracker base with a chocolate and marshmallow center and peanut top.  The chocolate is thick, ganache-like and incredibly rich.  I would have enjoyed more marshmallow pieces in this bar, but it was still very good.

Rosemary Apricot Bar:  This was one of my favorites.  I usually do not like apricot, but with the rich buttery bottom layer and the nutty streusal topping I was a total fan.  The rosemary adds such a great savory flavor to the sweetness of the rest of the ingredients.  It reminds me of these rosemary pecan cookies which I LOVE with a passion and cannot stop eating when I make them.

Oatmeal Cookie:  Another favorite packed full of oatmeal, coconut, dried cherries, pecans and white chocolate.  I might try to recreate these at home.

Chocolate Cloud Cookie:  Dense, chocolate goodness.

Whoopie Pie:  A softer version of an Oreo and so much tastier.  Rich and yummy chocolate cookie encasing light fluffy vanilla cream filling.  Tasty.

Mini Red Velvet:  An adorable treat with a perfect dollop of cream cheese frosting.  This a perfect single serving cupcake.