Chocolate Chip(ish) Cookies

I haven't made cookies in awhile, so I decided to go with a simple recipe with a few variations. I made two types of cookies: White chocolate chip cookies, and cinnamon chip cookies.

Both were tasty! My favorite, however, are the cookies I made with a bit of leftover dough-- Chocolate chipless cookies. I love crisp cookies, and I feel like the chocolate takes away from that slighty, so I made three cookies without any sort of chip.

I didn't measure the chips, but I'd estimate that I used about 2 ounces (or between a fourth and a fifth of a bag) on each type. I pretty much just poured and stirred until they looked good.

This recipe I got online, but here it's posted again!

Chocolate Chip(ish) Cookie Recipe

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cups brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• Chocolate chips (or white chocolate, or cinnamon)
• You'll either need a full package of whichever type you choose, or 4-5 oz of different types
  

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 375°
• Beat together the: Butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla, until creamy.
• Beat in eggs, one at a time.
• Beat in the baking soda and salt.
• Beat in the flour, bit by bit until it's all blended in.
• FOR ONE TYPE OF COOKIE
• Stir in the chips
• FOR TWO TYPES OF COOKIE
• Split dough into two different bowls, and stir in the chips
• Drop by tablespoons onto a parchment paper covered cookie sheet
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden
• For softer cookies, transfer directly to a wire rack
• For crispier cookies, leave on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool
  

Here you can see the two different types!

Luscious Lemon Bars

My two favorite things in the baking world are recipes that involve a) cinnamon, and b) lemon.

Since I've used cinnamon lately, I thought I'd switch to lemon!

These are your basic lemon bars-- but I've never made them from scratch before! It's always the stuff that comes in the box, where all you do is add liquid (and maybe an egg) and then bake.

To be honest, these tasted just like the ones out of the box. Unless you have the desire to actually make them from scratch, save the money (and time!) and just use the box.

This was fun! And the whole house smells soooo good! It really only took me about 40 minutes to make this-- and that includes baking and clean-up time. And the house smells SO GOOD! (:

And I've never had a chance to cut and squeeze the juice from a lemon before-- I've really just never had a reason to do so. And I FINALLY got to use the trick that I picked up from Rachael Ray 2-3 years ago: Squeeze the juice out cut-side up to keep the seeds from falling into the mixture!
Lemon Bars Recipe

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 7 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  
• Topping Ingredients
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 lemon -- The finely grated rind, and juice, of
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• Powdered sugar for topping (which I ALWAYS overdo by accident!)
  

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°
• Grease the inside of an 8in square cake pan
• Using a food processor (I used an electric mixer, which was more work) blend the flour, butter, and powdered sugar.
• When it "comes together as a firm dough" press it into the pan, and spread smooth.
• Bake 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden. Leave in the tin to cool.

Topping Preparation

• Whisk the eggs in a bowl until frothy.
• Add the sugar, a little at a time, and whisk until fully blended.
• Whisk in the lemon rind, lemon juice, flour, and baking soda.
• Pour over the cookie base, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until set and golden.
• Leave to cool in the pan.
• Once slightly cooled, cut into bars (recipe says 12, I made 36 by doing smaller bites) and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

So apparently people love cheesecake, people love brownies, and people LOVE when the two are combined! Who knew?

This experiment went perfectly. It was like the stars aligned just for me! And it was surprisingly simple, too.

Thanks to treats like this, people at work are constantly asking me now if I'm going to open up my own shop. Maybe I should! It'd be SO fun!
And to be honest, I really don't have any helpful tips on making these! Follow the directions, and you're pretty much set. The one thing I would suggest is letting the butter sit out to room temperature (which the recipe doesn't say to do) because it made the cheesecake mixture a little more lumpy than I felt it should be.

These are SUCH an easy way to impress people, too!
But the recipe calls for it to be put in an 8" cake pan, so you don't get a lot of brownies. You'll definitely have to a) make two batches at once, or b) make small brownies.

I'm getting good at marbling!

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownie Recipe:

• For Cheesecake Mixture
• 1 egg
• 1- 8oz package "full-fat" cream cheese
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• For Brownie Mixture
• 4oz dark chocolate (Recipe says "minimum 70% cocoa solids -- I used 60% and it worked fine)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (Softened!)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 325°
• Line the base/sides of an 8" cake tin with parchment paper, or grease the base/sides.
• Cheesecake mixture -- Beat the egg in a mixing bowl.
• Add the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract. "Beat until smooth and creamy."
• Set bowl aside for later.
• Brownie mixture -- Melt the chocolate and butter together in the microwave, or by using a double-boiler.
• Stir well to mix, and add brown sugar. Mix.
• Add the eggs a little at a time and beat well.
• Gently stir in the flour.
• Spread 2/3 of the brownie mixture over the base of the tin.
• Spread the cheesecake mixture on top. (The easiest was the 'blob' method for me, of putting it down in blobs and then just sort of pushing it around until the brownie was covered.)
• Spoon the remaining brownie mixture (or a LITTLE less, since the brownie seemed to overwhelm the cheesecake a bit) in blobs on top of the cheesecake.
• Using a skewer (or in my case, popsicle stick) swirl together to create a marbled effect.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until just set in the center.
• Do NOT overcook! After about 25 (my oven cooks hot) I checked on it until I was satisfied with it.
• Leave to cool in the tin, and then cut into squares.

And I can't say it enough. These are VERY simple, and VERY impressive. Use it to your advantage if you want to make someone say "Hey, that person is awesome!"

Easter Cookies!

Alright, these weren't an experiment. I put the experiment on hold this week in order to help mom make SEVEN DOZEN cookies! Some go to work with me, some go to work with her, and some go to my lil brother's dorm. And yes, they all get eaten within a week!

This is also the only baking project that I won't share the recipe for. Sorry, Charlie! It's a seeecret reeeciiipeeee *spooky voice*

But you can certainly enjoy the pictures, can't you?

Have a Happy Easter! Or if you don't celebrate Easter, have a happy weekend! Enjoy the sun! Or if it's cloudy where you live... uh... watch this video! It makes me happy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

Actually, EVERYONE should watch this video. Someone showed it to me a week ago and I've watched it five or six times since then!

And sorry that this picture is rotated. I can't fix it, so... tilt your head! (:

Cheddar Penny Breakdown

I have been defeated. By cheese.
Well, not defeated..I'm just being dramatic. But I had my first failed experiment!
To be honest, I'm glad it happened with the cheddar pennies and not with a different delicious (chocolatey) dessert!

They were supposed to be little crisp things-- According to the picture in the book, anyway. And I was expecting a crispness, sort of like a Better Cheddar.

However, what I got was a big mess. They got HUGE, and spread a lot. The recipe calls for 1/3 cup flour and I admittedly put in a little less, but the dough was getting crumbly already! But that was probably the mistake. Also, despite following the recipe they came out bigger than I expected them to (even at the start, when I was cutting them.)

I'm not sure how to fix them, but the recipe is easy enough that maybe I'll suck it up and make them again one day!

Sigh. Next week will be better!

Cheddar Penny Recipe

• 4 tbsp butter at room temperature, diced
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup flour
• pinch of salt
• pinch of chili powder

Preparation

• Cream the butter with an electric mixer.
• Use a spoon to stir in the cheese, flour, salt, and chili powder.
• Use your hands to form the dough into a ball.
• On a lightly floured surface, shape dough into a "long cylinder" about 1 1/4" in diameter.
• Wrap in waxed paper and chill for 1-2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350°
• Either grease two cookie sheets, or cover with parchment paper.
• Cut dough into 1/4" thick slices and put on the cookie sheets.
• Bake for about 15 minutes.

My tips:
Use all of the flour, and maybe a little more. Mine came out "greasy", so extra flour could cut down on this and also keep them from spreading.

Roll the dough into a slightly thinner rope than you think is good.

Cut the pennies slightly thinner than you initially intend to.

Make a double batch! Even if you have a successful batch, this recipe doesn't make a lot!

Cinnamon Pinwheels

Back to the book!
This week I made cinnamon pinwheels, and let me tell you: They were amazing!

The flavor was awesome, the texture was pleasing, and they're just big enough to enjoy one (or two!) without feeling really guilty about it. The only issue I had was with the pastry itself. I bought the package of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry (and this is what I'm using as a measurement in the recipe) which is folded into thirds-- when I unrolled it, it actually split into thirds. This didn't really cause a problem though, and it was actually easier to cut the three smaller logs than the one big one that I got on my second batch.

Second, be sure to test your cinnamon/sugar mix before you use it. Mine tasted a little too sharp from the cinnamon so I added a tad more sugar to balance it out. Just a heads up!
Cinnamon Pinwheel Recipe

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 sheet of puff pastry
• 1 egg white
• OR FOR A DOUBLE BATCH (which I suggest)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 package puff pastry (comes with 2 sheets)
• 1 egg white

Preparation

• Put the puff pastry out on the counter to thaw for an hourish.
• Preheat the oven to 425°
• In a small bowl mix together the cinnamon and sugar.
• Unfold/lay out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to keep it from sticking later.
• Sprinkle 1/2 (or 1/4 for a double batch) of the sugar mixture onto it.
• Roll out to 10" square so the mixture is pressed into it. Sprinkle with the rest of the mixture.
• Roll into a loose tube. Use the egg white to seal the edge of the tube, and press together with your fingers to make sure they stay secure.
• Roll the tube in a bit of the mixture to give it a little more color on the outside.
• Cut into about 1/4" thick rolls. Put on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
• Cook for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
• Once out of the oven, sprinkle the tops with a little more sugar then put on a cooling rack.
• When you pack them, seal them in an airtight container to keep them crisp!

Note: The crispness isn't really -hard-, it's just..not soggy.

(Virgin) Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CINDY!

Well, not yet. Her birthday is on the 15th but we're celebrating tonight instead.
She's turning 21, but her (other) best friend is still only 20 so we can't go out to celebrate.
To compromise I took on the responsibility of baking her cake. Or rather, cakes. What better way to celebrate a non-alcoholic 21st birthday than with alcoholic imitations?
So for her birthday I'm making her strawberry margarita cupcakes! They're super adorable, and delicious! You can make regular margarita cupcakes with key limes, but she doesn't like limes and LOVES the color pink and anything strawberry. And so here we are!

Strawberries tossed with sugar, for the frosting.

Strawberry Margarita Cupcake Recipe
Note: Start on the frosting first because the strawberries have to sit for 2 hours beforehand.

• One box of strawberry cake mix
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cups vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
  
• 1 pint (or 1 pound/1 package-- same thing) of strawberries
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tbsp softened butter
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 
  
• A package of neon bendy straws
• Coarse sugar crystals

Preparation

• Line 2 cupcake pans with cupcake liners (makes sense, right?) I suggest either pink or white.
• Mix and bake the mix according to directions on the back of the box.
• Leave to let cool.

Frosting Preparation

• Wash 1/2 of the strawberries (Since these will be blended, I chose the less pretty ones), then 'hull' them (aka cut off the leafy tops).
• Slice the berries and put in a bowl.
• Pour the granulated sugar over the strawberries and mix well.
• Chill for two hours.
• In another bowl, beat the butter until it's fluffy.
• Drain the extra juice from the strawberries, then mash them up and add them to the butter. Add in half of the powdered sugar.
• Blend until it's all mixed in, then slowly add in more powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want for spreading the frosting.

Decoration

• After frosting your cupcakes, sprinkle the edges with coarse sugar crystals. Note: Sprinkle as you go, because once the frosting sets it begins to reject having any sugar sprinkled on)
• Wash/hull the rest of your strawberries, and slice in half (longway) and place one half on the edge of each cupcake.
• Cut a bendy straw until it's about 4" long, then stick in the cupcake.

Because the frosting is made from fresh strawberries, the recipe suggests keeping your cupcakes refrigerated.

Personally, I think this would dry out the cupcakes way too fast and make them soggy, so I just waited until the last possible moment then frosted the cupcakes, so they could sit out.

Because of the freshness involved, I suggest making these the day of the event and consuming them the day of. I mean, you know how strawberries get...

Strawberry frosting recipe found here:
http://southernfood.about.com/od/icingrecipes/r/r70225c.htm