Baking with Ashley Fondren: Delicious Desserts for Any Occasion

In August, we spoke with Ashley Fondren, owner of Comfort Confections Bakery in Little Rock, Arkansas, about how to make meal prep easy and healthy (check out the article “Meal Prep Made Easy“). This month, Ashley has graciously allowed us to invade her kitchen to talk recipe development, her favorite kitchen tools, and some of the things on her kitchen “wish list.” She also let us take a peek into her cookbook as she shares with us two of her favorite desserts to bake. Keep reading to check out Part 2 of our Q&A with Ashley and to download two delicious dessert recipes you’ll definitely want to try this fall!

Baking with Ashley Fondren: Q&A Part 2

Simquily: What do you love most (and like least) about being in the kitchen?

Ashley: There is that old wives tell that says, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Well, I don’t think that is true with just men. I think the way to any person’s heart is through his or her stomach! That being said, that is probably what I love most about being in the kitchen. I love being able to cook for my family, bake for my friends, and vise versa. The thing I like the least . . . the clean up! Haha! Overcoming it isn’t always the easiest, but if I can catch my husband, Jon, in the right mood, he will do all the clean up for me.

Simquily: We read that you develop recipes. To those of us who rarely go off script and are intimidated by not using recipes, that is impressive! What is the recipe development process like for you?

Ashley: I guess you could say it’s trial and error, and a good portion of the time it happens by accident. A recipe could call for one thing like cream cheese, and if I don’t have cream cheese but I have sour cream, I think, “Hmm, that will work.” Or, I can follow a recipe—for example, chicken tacos—and think, “Hey, fresh corn, black beans, and rice would be great in this too!” So I’ll add that. Next thing you know, I have completely changed the original recipe. I have definitely gotten more comfortable over the years in doing this, and it’s not something I always did. I used to be a stickler for following the recipe exactly. Honestly, my favorite recipe is probably the easiest thing I make. I think the reason it’s one of my favorites is because it’s not only the easiest but also my family loves it so much and it’s their most often requested dish. It is good, old-fashioned chicken spaghetti.

(Check out the article “Meal Prep Made Easy” for Ashley’s delicious chicken spaghetti recipe.)

Simquily: What are your three favorite items you have in your kitchen?

Ashley: I can only pick three?! I love my KitchenAid mixers. I use them so much for everything from cookie dough, royal icing, and cakes to every . . . single . . . thing . . . in between. I think I just might cry when one of them goes caput. Another thing I love is my double oven. I cook and bake so much, especially during the holidays, so I get a lot of use out of them and it’s so convenient to have several dishes or trays of cookies going at once. Not to mention, they are handy when the holidays are here and it seems I never turn them off. Last and certainly not least, one of my favorite things is my six-burner cooktop. For years I wasn’t a fan of a gas burner, but quite frankly, I think I just didn’t have the right one. I love the one I have because it’s huge. I can get so much going at once, and, again, it’s a dream during holidays. I love the way it cooks better and more efficient than an electric cooktop.

Simquily: What are some items on your kitchen wish list?

Ashley: A subzero fridge and freezer in my kitchen. Right now, we have a fridge and freezer inside and one in our garage, and it gets kind of tedious having to walk in and out over and over again a few times a day. Our fridge inside seems like it’s mainly stocked with our daughter’s food, and our outside fridge is overflow items from milk and pounds of butter to stacks of eggs. Another thing is a big, huge kitchen island. The one we have now is a good size for everyday use, but when I am rolling out cookie dough, I have to position everything just exactly right so I’m not rolling it off the edge. Lastly, an undermount nugget ice machine (a.k.a. sonic ice). We have an Opal ice machine now, which is a small ice machine that sits on your countertop and makes the nugget ice. It’s awesome, but I want my countertops clear so having an undermount would be a dream for me.

Simquily: Last, but certainly not least, we have to ask . . . what are your favorite treats to bake?

Ashley: Customer favorites are my custom sugar cookies. They are mostly sugar cookie flavor, but I do make the occasional strawberry and chocolate flavors. They are covered in royal icing and decorated however the customer wishes, themes ranging from sports and baby, to Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Back-to-School, and anything and everything in between.

Personally, I love Brookies. In case you don’t know what a brookie is, it’s part chocolate chip cookie and part brownie. You take a scoop of each and put them together on a cookie sheet and bake just like a cookie. It’s the best of both worlds. And the fact that my daughter’s nickname is Brookie, I’m kind of partial to them. Also, another favorite of mine is a chocolate sheet cake. It’s so easy and one of my family’s favorites as well, which is probably why I like it so much too.

Dessert Recipes from the Kitchen of Ashley Fondren

Brookie Cookies

BROWNIE COOKIE DOUGH INGREDIENTS:

1 1/3 cups granulated white sugar
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS FOR THE BROWNIE COOKIE DOUGH:

Place the sugar, butter, and cocoa in large in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat. Stir the mixture together until smooth. Turn off and remove from heat.
In a separate bowl, whisk eggs together. Slowly add the cocoa mixture to the whisked eggs until incorporated.
Stir in the vanilla extract.
Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring together until smooth.

DIRECTIONS FOR THE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH:

In stand mixer combine the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until very pale and fluffy.
Add the egg, and mix until completely incorporated.
Scrape bottom and sides of bowl, then add egg yolk and vanilla, mixing until blended.
Scrape bottom and sides of bowl, then add flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.
Mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated, then stir in the chocolate chips.

DIRECTIONS FOR THE BROOKIE COOKIES:

Preheat the oven to 375º F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the chocolate chip cookie dough onto baking sheet.
Scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the brownie cookie dough and place on top of the cookie dough.
With your fingers slightly wet, slightly press down the dough.
Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until cookies begin to turn golden brown around the edges.

Chocolate Sheet Cake

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk (If you don’t have buttermilk, fill 2% milk to just below the 1/2 cup line and pour in a few splashes of vinegar. Automatic buttermilk!)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup applesauce
2 sticks butter
4 tablespoons cocoa powder

ICING INGREDIENTS:

1 3/4 sticks butter
4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350º F.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Stir together and set aside.
In another bowl, mix the buttermilk, baking soda, vanilla, and applesauce. Mix and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and then add the cocoa. Whisk together to combine. While the butter is melting, bring 1 cup water to a boil. When the butter is melted and your cocoa has been added, pour the boiling water in the pan. Allow to bubble for 30 seconds then turn off the heat. Pour the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture. Stir together for a moment to cool the chocolate,
Pour in the applesauce / milk mixture. Stir together until smooth, then pour into an ungreased or rimmed baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

While the cake is cooling, make the icing:

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
Add the cocoa powder and stir until smooth.
Add the milk, vanilla. and powdered sugar.
Whisk together getting out all of the lumps.

Download the Recipes

Click on the image for downloadable dessert recipes for the Chocolate Sheet Cake and Brookie Cookies!

About Ashley & Comfort Confections

Ashley Fondren is the owner of Comfort Confections in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she lives with her husband, Jon, and their fifteen-month old daughter, Brooklyn. Comfort Confections specializes in custom sugar cookies and also offers box lunches, brownies, banana pudding, pound cake, banana bread, pies and more for any type of occasion. Everything is made to order and made from scratch. Be sure to follow @comfortconfectionslr on Instagram and Facebook.