TWD: Cinnamon Squares

This week’s Tuesday With Dorie recipe was Cinnamon Squares. Was I the only one who pictured more of a cinnamon shortbread when they saw the name of the recipe? Every month when the new list of recipes appears on the site, I put sticky tabs on the pages of the book with the date written on them; you know, so I can plan ahead. I have all these grand ideas at the beginning of the month about getting ahead of schedule, and then I inevitably end up making the dessert the weekend before, often late on Sunday night. Or occasionally Monday, though I do try to avoid that as much as possible. Anyway, this month Mr. Penpen saw me tabbing up the book and when he saw the Cinnamon Squares, he asked, hopefully, “full batch?” And I did intend to make a whole batch since I knew this would be a recipe he would really like, but then we got a little bit backed up on treats, so I ended up making a quarter of a recipe. If this recipe didn’t have so much chocolate in it, I think I could have easily pretended it was a breakfast cake and made the whole recipe. I suppose I could have omitted the chocolate (initially I wasn’t so sure about the combination), but the more I looked at the photo of the swirly frosting on the cake, the more appealing it sounded.




And wow! Am I ever glad I made it with chocolate: this cake is absolutely delectable. I think the espresso powder really brings the cinnamon and chocolate flavors together, and you get wonderful hints of all three. I was mildly concerned that I had overbaked my little cake, but the texture ended up being perfect too. I am a little sorry I didn’t make an entire cake, but now that I know how delicious (and easy!) it is, I will definitely make it again.






I gave this cake a 9 for Deliciousness and a 2 for Effort, giving it an EDR of 4.5. Many thanks to Tracey of Tracey’s Culinary Adventures for picking such a winner. You can find the recipe on Tracey’s fabulous site, plus much more. I began reading her blog regularly a couple months ago, and am continually impressed with how many great recipes she puts up there! You can also see what the other TWD bakers thought of this cake via the TWD blogroll.