Dumplin's

This isn't a baking entry; this is a cooking entry! Whoa!
But it's not REALLY cooking, so..it's okay.
These are "dumplins", NOT "dumplings." That's just way too formal. I'm talking "we gotta cook up some dumplins" here! And this recipe is for chicken/turkey based dumplins, but you can use beef stock/juices instead.
My dad grew up eating these, but I consider them a special treat. I'd never even made them before today! It was actually really fun making them. You have to make sure that the liquid is hot enough, because it helps bind the ingredients and draws them off of the spoon.
Dumplins are cheap, easy, and sooo tasty. And they're so good dipped in ketchup!

Dumplins Recipe

• 2 cups flour
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 c milk
• 2 containers chicken stock (not broth)
• Optional:
• If you decide to cook a chicken or turkey, you can use the leftover juice with the chicken stock! Dumplins are a good "day after" meal, for if you have chicken or turkey!

Preparation

• Put the chicken stock (and optional chicken/turkey juice) in a large pan. Bring to a rolling boil.
• Put the eggs in a large bowl. Break the yolks and stir to combine.
• Add in the flour and milk, and FOLD together with the egg.
• NOTE: Rough stirring will add too much air, which will make them large and flat. Hence folding!
• NOTE: The mix will be thick, like a heavy dough. You want it this way!
• Turn the stock down to medium-low. Scoop about 3/4 spoonful of the mix and dip in the mixture. When hot enough, the stock will draw it off of the spoon.
• Repeat until the bowl is empty of mix. Cook dumplins for 10 minutes minimum.
• After 10 minutes, cut one open to make sure it's done inside.
• Serve as a side or as a meal, with or without ketchup!

Spritz Cookies

Phew! Finals are over, I'm waiting for grades to be posted, and it's so close to Christmas that I'm frolicking everywhere.

And I thought, what better treat to make to celebrate the holidays than spritz cookies??

I Googled "Best spritz cookie recipe" and this is the one I found. Now, I like mine more buttery and sweet, and these are a little more tangy, so there's your warning. They're still delicious, but in a different way.
I got my roommate to help me, too! She bought me the spritz gun (as I so lovingly call it) for my birthday, but I haven't used it until now. It's so fun! This recipe is made for use with a cookie press (gun) and it makes a looot of cookies.
I did three different designs, and used three different sprinkle colors. The trees got green, the roundish ones got blue, and the.. diamond ones..? got red! Very festive.

The recipe online said to cook them for 10-12 minutes, but when I cooked by first batch for 10, it burned. I was so sad! I burnt a whole tray of trees. So I suggest starting at 6 minutes, and then going from there.

Best. Roommates. Ever.

Spritz Cookie Recipe

• 1 cup butter-flavored shortening
• 1- 3oz package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• Sprinkles for looks

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350
• In a medium bowl, cream together shortening, cream cheese, and sugar.
• Beat in egg yolk, vanilla, and orange zest. Beat until light and fluffy.
• Beat in salt and cinnamon, then gradually add flour. Mix until well-combined.
• Choose the design you want, fill the tube of the cookie press, and form your cookies on an ungreased, un-parchment-papered cookie sheet.
• Sprinkle with sprinkles (Crazy!) before putting in oven.
• Bake 6-8 minutes, removing when edges just begin to turn golden brown.
• Remove from pan as soon as you can, letting them cool on a cooling rack instead.

Delay

FINALS WEEK! AHHHHH!

All that means is that I'm not baking yet this week.
But I'm going to make spritz cookies after this is all done, so you have that to look forward to!

Brownie Bites

My writing group had a holiday party on Monday, so I (obviously) decided to make some treats!
I did the cinnamon pinwheels that I love so much, but also made brownie bites and a chocolate buttercream to go on top!
It was the frosting that made these things! The brownie was your typical brownie, and the frosting was your typical chocolate frosting, but together.. I may start drooling just typing this up!
These can either be really good for you, or really bad. You can grab one and it's rich enough for you to be able to walk away. But then..you might walk back a dozen times to get more.
Brownie Bite Recipe

• One package box brownie mix
• Eggs (varies)
• Vegetable oil (varies)

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350
• Mix brownies according to directions on back of box.
• Grease a mini-muffin pan, fill 3/4 way full with brownie mix.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, and check with a toothpick. Be careful not to overcook, because they'll become dry and crumble.
• Let them completely cool before removing them from the pan.

Chocolate Buttercream Recipe

• 11 tbsp butter (1 stick + 3 tbsp), softened
• 1 - 2lb bag powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 c milk
• 3 tbsp cocoa

Preparation

• Combine butter, vanilla, salt, 3/4 of the powdered sugar and 3/4 of the milk.
• Blend until well combined, adding more powdered sugar or more milk when needed.
• Once you reach the consistency you desire, add in 3 tbsp cocoa (mix on low speed to avoid cocoa-fying your clothes!)

Oreo Snowmen

So I've repeated the Oreo Balls recipe yet again, but come on-- how cute are these little snowmen!

I wanted to take something fun to my writing group, and they'd been requesting more oreo balls since I took in the oreo ghosts, so in response to the chilly weather today I whipped these guys up.
At first I made them the size of regular oreo balls, but I was running short on time, so I figured 15 huge ones were easier to dip than 30 little ones. And they were! Then I used a regular toothpick to carve the eyes and mouth. But first went on the nose! For the nose, I melted one square of almond bark and then used a gel-based food coloring to turn it orange. The noses were about the size of a pencil eraser (the visible part on a new pencil, not the whole eraser.) I used a toothpick to dab some globs of A.B. onto a piece of wax paper, and used the toothpick to get the right shape.

These are my favorite oreo creations yet! If anyone can think of any more shapes to try, let me know!

Speaking of favorites, here are some of the members of my favorite group! (Thanks for posing for me!!)

Oreo Snowmen Recipe

• 1 package Oreos, crushed
• 1 package full-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1 package white Almond Bark

Preparation

• Either crush Oreos or blend in a food processor.
• Using an electric mixer, blend cookies and the cream cheese together. Chill while working on the noses.
• Melt one square from the Almond Bark block, then add in orange GEL-based dye until it reaches the color you want.
• On a sheet of wax paper, use a toothpick to shape drops of a.b. and form to a rounded cone-like shape.
• Leave those to harden and take the oreo mix from the fridge. On a separate sheet of wax paper, use your hands to roll mix into balls (mine were probably around two inches in circumference, but you can pick the size.) Put in freezer.
• Chop and melt the remaining almond bark.
• Drop balls into a.b., one by one. Use a plastic spoon to make sure it's completley covered, then use a toothpick to retreive it from the a.b. Tap off excess and place on wax paper to dry.
• When mostly dry, press a dried nose into each ball. When completely dry, use a toothpick to create the coal-eyes and coal-mouth.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Happy Thanksgiving!
or
Happy Gluttony and Coma Day!

I think that it's obvious by now that I like baking, but SURPRISE! So does my mom!

More specifically, she likes baking CUPCAKES. And I don't just mean regular chocolate or vanilla, either.
For my birthday she made Reese's cupcakes, and lemon cupcakes.
For dad's birthday she made German chocolate cupcakes.
She's also made amazing banana split cupcakes, Twix cupcakes, rocky road, key lime, toffee, white chocolate with raspberry cream cheese, caramel apple...

And for Thanksgiving, she made pumpkin cupcakes!

Pumpkin with cream cheese frosting and sugared pecans

She makes the cupcakes themselves from a box mix, and then makes the frosting (and any other toppings) from scratch.

For these pumpkin cupcakes she added in a can of pumpkin. Then, the amazing and ambitious person she is, she made two different types of frosting: Cream cheese frosting (topped with sugared pecans), and maple buttercream (sprinkled with cinnamon).

Pumpkin with maple buttercream frosting, sprinkled with cinnamon

Included below are both frosting recipes, for your convenience. You don't have to make them both at the same time!

Pumpkin Cupcakes Recipe

• 1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist yellow cake mix
• 1 small box vanilla pudding
• 1 c. sour cream
• 1 - 15oz can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
• 1/2 c water
• 1/3 c vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350
• Line a cupcake pan with 24 cupcake papers
• Combine cake mix, pudding, sour cream, pumpkin, water, oil, eggs, and spice (aka all ingredients) in a large bowl.
• Beat with electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
• Divide among cupcake cups (about 2/3 full).
• Bake 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool completely.

Maple Buttercream Frosting Recipe

• NOTE: This recipe has been doubled to allow enough frosting to pipe
• 2 -8 oz packages full-fat cream cheese
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp maple extract
• 8 c powdered sugar
• Cinnamon (optional)

Preparation

• Cream the cream cheese and butter until well combined and fluffy.
• Add in vanilla and maple extract, and blend well.
• Add powdered sugar slowly, until you reach the consistency you like.
• Frost/pipe onto cupcakes and sprinkle with cinnamon if desired

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

• 2 - 8oz packages full-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 9 cups powdered sugar (2 bags = 8 cups) [This amount makes it stiff enough to pipe]
• Sugared Pecans (optional -- Recipe below)

Preparation

• Cream the cream cheese and butter until well combined and fluffy.
• Add vanilla, mix in.
• Add powdered sugar slowly, until you reach the consistency you like.

Sugared Pecan Recipe

• 1/2 c finely chopped pecans
• 3 tbsp sugar

Preparation

• In a heavy skillet, cook pecans and 2 tbsp sugar on LOW heat, about eight minutes, until sugar is melted.
• Spoon pecans onto waxed paper in thin layer, and sprinkle with remaining sugar.

Diabetic Friendly Chocolate Mousse Pie

Here's another good recipe! Good in many different ways, too. Good: For you; for your wallet; if you have a busy schedule.
You only need four ingredients: A ready-to-use graham cracker crust, one box of pudding, one container of Cool Whip, and milk. What makes it healthy is that the pudding is sugar-free and fat-free, and the Cool Whip is fat-free as well. (An optional fifth ingredient is chocolate for the chocolate curls on top.) I honestly didn't look at the nutrition facts for the crust, but I think with how healthy the mousse is, it shouldn't make that big of an impact.
Chocolate curls are SO fun to make! Now, online it says to use a cheese slicer, and a large block of chocolate. I used a vegetable peeler, and a chocolate bar. The trick is to make the chocolate soft enough that it'll sculpt into the form you want, but if it's too soft it'll just melt. I just bought a regular Hershey's bar and practiced with it. Now, this takes away from the 'diabetic friendly' label, but it's completely optional!

Diabetic Friendly Chocolate Mousse Pie Recipe

• 1 ready-to-use graham cracker crust (Chocolate, if possible)
• 1 - 1.5oz package sugar-free/fat-free chocolate pudding mix
• 1 2/3 c skim milk
• 1 - 8oz container fat-free Cool Whip, thawed
• OPTIONAL:
• Chocolate curls, or chocolate chips

Preparation

• In a large bowl, whisk together pudding powder and milk.
• Once well combined, add 4oz (1/2 container) of Cool Whip. Fold in carefully-- over mixing will cause the Cool Whip to lose its form.
• Spoon into crust and smooth out.
• Top with remaining Cool Whip, and chocolate curls if desired.

Chocolate Curls Recipe

• One bar of chocolate (or a few, for practice)

Preparation

• Put patterned-side down and carefully heat in microwave, making sure not to melt the chocolate. (I used a paper plate, but cut off the raised edges so I could have a flat surface to work on.) Heat ~ 10-15 seconds on 70% heat.
• Using a vegetable peeler, carefully guide the blade along the chocolate.
• The amount of pressure/speed will determine how large or loose your curls are.
• If the chocolate flakes, put it in the microwave for a few more seconds.