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It’s National Margarita Day, which can only mean one thing: A Raspberry Chambord Margarita!

Mike and I used to go out to a restaurant here in Vegas called Z’Tejas Southwestern Grill — unfortunately it shut down a few years ago. However, they had the best margarita ever, the Raspberry Chambord Margarita. It was tangy, smooth, and packed a punch. I was able to find a “copycat” recipe of it online a while back and we tried it last summer. It’s a perfect clone of the one we used to enjoy at the restaurant, and is actually pretty easy to make.

Instead of freezing the pitcher of mix like the instructions said to do, we use our ice cream maker. Just pour the mix into the pre-frozen canister, turn your machine on and within about 20 minutes or so you’ll have the perfect consistency for the margarita.

Chambord Raspberry Margarita

4 cups warm water
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup lime juice
2/3 cup lemon juice
10 oz gold tequila
5 oz triple sec
Chambord raspberry liqueur

Combine the sugar and warm water and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Add lime and lemon juices, tequila, and triple sec. If making way ahead of time, pour into a pitcher, stick it in the freezer, let it freeze up a bit and give it a stir every now and then so it’s slushy. (This is a great plain margarita.)

If you’ve got an electric ice cream maker, pour the mix in and run it for about 20 minutes, or until it’s thick and slushy. Transfer to a pitcher.

Pour about 1/2 an ounce of Chambord (a little goes a long way!) into the bottom of a glass and spoon or pour the frozen margarita over it. This recipe halves well.

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The other day I mentioned that I had a recipe for my most favorite chocolate chip cookies ever — and here it is!

My favorite kind of chocolate chip cookies are thick and chewy, the ones that keep their shape when they come out of the oven. I’m not crazy about cookies that flatten out, thin as pancakes, though the ones I made Tuesday were very tasty.

I’ve been making these for a while and they never fail to hit the spot. I like to use the 60% Ghirardelli chocolate chips for these.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups + 2 Tb all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt together, set aside.

Mix butter and sugars in mixer until well combined. Beat in egg, egg yolk and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Using a cookie scoop, place cookies two inches apart on greased or parchment-lined cookie sheets.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.

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I love the combination of sweet and tangy, especially when it comes to baking. When I saw this recipe for Black Bottom Cupcakes making the rounds last summer, I immediately checked my cupboards to make sure I had the ingredients, thanked the universe that I did, and then made them.

They are very good, but I found that the cream cheese and chocolate seemed to fade into each other, without getting a kick of flavor out of either one. The next time I make these I’m going to play around a little bit and maybe add some sour cream to the cream cheese mix to see if that’ll bring it up a bit.

The cupcakes stayed moist in the fridge with plastic wrap and were devoured within two days. This particular version of the recipe comes from Worth Her Salt.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 c sugar
1/8 t salt
1 c miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 c sugar
1/4 c cocoa powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c water
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 T cider vinegar
1 t vanilla extract

~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper cups or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.

~ In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.

~ In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Stir together until well blended. Fill muffin tins 1/3 full with the batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture.

~ Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

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