Chocolate Crêpes

The other day I remembered crêpes existed. No, really. My mother used to make them for me for breakfast constantly when I was younger but I haven't had them in ages. I was reminded thanks to tumblr and had an urge to make them immediately. Unfortunately that was when I realized we barely had any milk so I had to wait until tonight to actually make them (and upon doing so found out we actually had exactly enough milk to make one batch of them, meaning I didn't have to wait, whoops). I admit, I haven't perfected the art of crêpe making but if I make them more often, I hope to. I ended up topping these with some whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate syrup.

Chocolate Crêpes (recipe adapted from Gourmade At Home)

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 to 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• Dash cinnamon (optional)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted & cooled
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except the flour and cocoa (the color of your crêpe will depend on the kind of cocoa you use; they may come out any shade from light brown to brownish-red to dark brown). Once thoroughly combined, gradually add in the flour while continuing to whisk. Make sure there are no lumps of flour in the batter. (Or simply place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.) Heat a large frying pan on medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Pour between 1/8 to 1/4 cup of batter into the pan at a time. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly. Cook each crêpe for between 10 and 20 seconds on each side or until bubbly and darker brown than the original batter. Use a spatula to carefully flip the crêpes. Repeat with remaining batter, spraying the pan with cooking spray before each new crêpe.

You can top / fill your crêpes with whatever you want, including fruit, whipped cream, or jam.

Someone Help Me Name This Cake?

I am terrible at coming up with names for cakes/cookies/meals of any kind. Chocolate cake with so many alterations it barely resembles a typical chocolate cake is still just "chocolate cake." Either that or I have to explain every time whatever is in what I made, instead of just having a clever name that sums it all up. So if anyone has any suggestions for this, let me know? I may not have a name for it, but I can assure you it's delicious.

Sometimes when I'm bored and in a cooking mood, I look up recipes for a specific thing to make (like cake for example), decide on a base recipe (chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, something with fruit), open up a new tab a million tabs from other sites and start assembling bits and pieces of the final recipe in Gmail. Today was one of those days. Obviously, this process gets complicated if certain things I want to make, I don't have the ingredients for, but most of the time I just make substitutions or alterations.
I originally hadn't intended to, since I make things with Oreos so often, but I added Oreos at the last minute because I knew I wanted a filling of some sort / two different frostings so it wasn't overwhelmingly chocolate. I love cakes dripping with ganache on top, but have never made one, and I also think cakes decorated in a creative way (not the frosting this time, since I lost my piping bag and tips) are always awesome.

So I decided on chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, cookies & cream frosting in between the layers, covered in dripping ganache and decorated with Halloween nonpareils and Whoppers because it's October and I need to use my Halloween sprinkles, don't judge me.
Another thing: I AM ABSOLUTELY AWFUL AT WAITING FOR CAKES TO COOL. I'm so excited and eager to frost the cake that most of the time, I put the frosting in between the layers and it melts right away. I have tried to hurry the cake up by putting it in the freezer / fridge but of course, the middle is always still warm and causes everything to melt and be lopsided, etc. Do not be like me. If you are like me, and end up with a tilty cake, put it in the fridge for a bit until the cake is cool and frosting has hardened up a bit, then fill in any gaps and try to make everything as even as possible. Other blogs have tutorials and things of that nature for how to properly frost the perfect cake, and I would advise looking at them at least once (unless you're one of those people who isn't a perfectionist and doesn't care what the cake looks like as long as it tastes good; then just keep being you because you are awesome and I admire you).

for the cake:

• ¾ cup butter room temperature
• ¾ cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 oz semi-sweet chocolate melted

chocolate buttercream: 

• 1 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• A pinch of salt
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (or to taste)
• ½ cup + 1 tbsp cocoa powder

oreo filling:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
•  about 1 row of Oreo cookies, finely crushed
• 2 tbsp heavy cream or milk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

dark chocolate glaze:

• ¾ a cup of dark chocolate chips
• 3 tbsp of heavy cream
• 1 tbsp of powdered sugar 
• (a couple of tsp of water if needed)

the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8 inch pan with parchment paper or lightly grease with baking spray. Set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder.
Add the melted chocolate to the cake batter and pour it into the prepared baking pan.
Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

the glaze:

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place a heat proof bowl over the top of the simmering water.
Add in chocolate and heavy cream, stir continuously until melted.Stir in sugar.
If it does not look pourable, add some water 1 tsp at a time until it is.
Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.
You can work the chocolate down the sides with a rubber spatula to create drips

the chocolate buttercream:
Whip in a stand mixer using a paddle attachment butter, and flavoring till creamy then whip in powdered sugar and cocoa. Set aside until ready to use.

oreo filling:
Grind/crush Oreo cookies until fine.
Cube butter and place in stand alone mixer bowl.
Using the whisk attachment, whisk butter, vanilla, 1 cup of sugar, and Oreo cookies together on medium speed until smooth.
Add remaining sugar and 2 tbsp cream.
Whisk on medium to high for a few minutes until frosting is smooth.

(recipe sources / recipes altered:  cake | oreo frosting | glaze | buttercream)

Simple Brownies with Dark Chocolate Chips

I finally got to bake my first dessert in my new apartment! I finished packing up at my mother's house yesterday and the unpacking is almost finished here. I got a brownie pan and some other baking stuff, and since we need to go grocery shopping today anyway, I figured brownies weren't a bad idea for breakfast.

This is my go-to brownie recipe. I usually add chocolate chips of some sort, but you can add pretty much anything (candy, caramel, nuts, etc).


Dark Chocolate Chip Brownies (recipe via Living Lou)

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter
• 6 oz coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• a handful—1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (depends on your preference; too many chocolate chips and the brownies won't cook properly)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch pan or line with parchment paper, and grease the parchment paper.
Melt butter, chocolate and cocoa in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water, or melt in microwave at 30 second intervals, mixing each time. Stir together until melted. Once melted, cool slightly.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bow, and set aside.

Beat sugar, eggs and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer for 4 minutes. Add the melted chocolate mixture and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl until completely combined.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake until a cake tester comes out with a few crumbs, which takes about 30—35 minutes, depending on your oven.

Halloween Whoopie Pies

Being home from college means an opportunity to bake for my favorite holiday! I made pumpkin whoopie pies last year, so this year I’m just making traditional ones, colored black and orange. Halloween sprinkles/nonpareils optional.

Have you ever written something down and then read it completely wrong, even though you wrote it? That’s what happened when I was making the cake portion of the pies. I didn’t do the steps in order and the batter came out completely lumpy and unappetizing due to me mixing the cocoa with the flour and then the coffee-water mixture with that. What were you thinking, brain? Granted, this isn’t my usual recipe for whoopie pies, and we didn’t have the full amount of brown sugar the recipe calls for, but oh well. My mom had one and says they taste good. I’m sure the amazing filling makes up for my cake mistake. Seriously. Try not to eat the whole bowl of that stuff before you fill the whoopie pies. It was hard for me not to.

Halloween Whoopie Pies
For the cake:

• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup hot coffee (I used espresso powder mixed with water)
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1-2 tablespoons black food coloring (depends on how dark you’d like your cake to be)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, add cocoa powder. Pour the hot coffee and water over the mixture and whisk thoroughly until powders are completely dissolved.

In another medium bowl, mix together the canola oil and light brown sugar. Add this to the cocoa mixture and whisk until combined. Add the egg, vanilla, and buttermilk, and food coloring and whisk until smooth.

Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture with a rubber spatula. Add the food coloring until the batter is as black as you want it. (If you’re using liquid food coloring and the batter becomes too runny, add about 1/8 cup flour.)

Either use a medium ice cream scoop or piping bag fit with a large round tip to measure out the cookies. Release or pipe 2” rounds onto baking sheets, 1 inch apart.

Bake 8-10 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until the cookies crack slightly on top and spring back in the center when gently pressed. Let cool completely, then remove from sheet with a spatula.

For the filling:

• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow Fluff
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable shortening
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• red and yellow food coloring (optional)

Add all ingredients to bowl and mix together. Add food coloring until filling is a noticable shade of orange. Scoop mixture into empty freezer back. Snip one corner off bag and pipe the frosting onto 1/2 of pie. Sandwich to make complete pie.

Halloween Oreo Cheesecake Brownies

I got the chance to bake I was at my mom’s house, picking up a few things. I had to make something for Halloween, since I do every year, and with all the Halloween Oreos I’ve been eating, I figured I might as well incorporate them into something.

Notes: The oreos I took cream out of were the ones that went in the batter. Instead of “coarsely chopping” them, I crushed them in a plastic bag with a rolling pin, until they were pretty much just crumbs, about the consistency of sand. I left a few with cream, chopped into about 1/8in bits to crumble on top before I put them in the oven.

Halloween Oreo Cheesecake Brownies

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup dark cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups coarsely chopped Halloween Oreo cookies (about one row from a package)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Cover an 8x8 baking pan with tinfoil (this will make lifting the brownies out easier when they’re cool) and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Whisk until combined and set aside.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan, over medium heat. Whisk in sugar and bring to a boil, whisking frequently; boil for 1 minute. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

Take the cream out of about six Oreos. In a small mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and Oreo cream until well combined, about 1 minute.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, until combined. Whisk in melted butter-sugar mixture until combined. Stir in flour mixture until just combined, followed by Oreo cookies.

Spread half of brownie batter into baking dish, followed by cream cheese layer; dot the top with remaining brownie batter, and spread evenly, as best as you can. Run a knife through batter to make “swirls”.

Bake for 23-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out semi-clean.
Cool on a wire rack to room temperature before slicing.

Gingersnaps

These are the other cookies I made for my dad as part of his birthday cookie care package. Gingersnaps! He’s loved these ever since I can remember but I’ve only ever made them twice. I tend to like them when the texture is a little chewy, but my dad likes them better when they’re hard and crunchy, so I made sure they were just how he likes them.

Gingersnaps

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup white decorating sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oil, molasses, and egg.
Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger;
stir into the molasses mixture. Roll dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Roll
each ball in white sugar before placing 2 inches apart on ungreased
cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven, or until center is firm. Cool on wire racks.

(adapted from Kirbie's Cravings)

Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies

This is one of the most loved (and debated) things I make. A lot of people are freaked out by the whole "meat product in my dessert" thing, but let's face it. Bacon is delicious. Not only that, but it makes sense with the salty-sweet combination that's so loved in desserts anyway. I made these for my dad's birthday.

Not to mention they only have five ingredients that most people have around their house on a daily basis, which makes them easy to make. Since they're not made with any flour, they have a texture that's more crumbly than most cookies, but remain delicious all the same.

Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies

• 1 cup all-natural chunky or smooth peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar (1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• about 6 slices of bacon, cooked, cooled and diced

In a skillet over medium high heat, fry up bacon until cooked through and let cool on paper towels until cool enough to dice. Dice up with a knife or just crush the bacon into small pieces with your hands and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Grease a baking sheet with butter and set aside. In a mixer combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add egg and baking soda and mix for another 2 minutes. Fold in cooked bacon. Roll into balls about the size of a teaspoon and create a cris-cross pattern with a fork.Roll the dough balls in granulated sugar before making the cris-cross pattern. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool on a baking sheet for at least five minutes.

Dark Chocolate Mousse

August 15th was Julia Child's birthday. She's a huge inspiration to me, always has been since I was a child and watched her every Sunday on channel 2. I wanted to make something fitting in honor of her, and decided upon chocolate mousse. This isn't her classic recipe, but I'd like to think she'd be flattered nonetheless. Bon appétit!



Dark Chocolate Mousse

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate (I used dark chocolate chips)
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (with an extra splash)

Melt butter and chocolate together in a double boiler or in the microwave at 30 second intervals, mixing in between. Whisk egg yolks into the chocolate mixture and place in the refrigerator. In a large bowl and with a large whisk (or with a hand mixer), beat egg whites for a minute or two. Add half the sugar to the egg whites and continue to beat until they form stiff peaks, another 3 minutes or so. Set aside. In another large bowl and with a large whisk (or hand mixer if you have one), beat cream for about a minute. Then add the remaining sugar and vanilla until it holds soft peaks, about 2 minutes. Be very careful not to over-beat the cream. If it has a cottage cheesy texture, you have gone too far. Take the chocolate mixture out of the refrigerator and stir in a couple of spoonfuls of the whites. Then fold in remaining whites thoroughly but gently. Fold in cream in the same manner. Stick mixture back into the fridge until chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight.
Yields 4 servings.

(adapted from The Chubbette)

Macarons: Attempt #1

I had been wanting to make macarons ever since I saw a picture of them, mostly because there are so many flavor combinations you can create with them, and there aren’t many places to get them around here. The only place I’ve been to that has them is LA Burdick Chocolates in Cambridge, and they call them Luxembourgers.
About a year ago, being impatient, I tried making macarons without the use of almond meal (I made chocolate ones, one version with nutella buttercream and another with mocha buttercream) which turned out disastrously, but still tasty. I knew as soon as I could get my hands on some almond meal, I had to make them correctly.
Chocolate Desserts By Pierré Herme has a recipe for macarons that isn’t in the metric system. That’s one thing I find confusing about most macaron recipes. I figured it would be better to start out with a base recipe that was easier to measure and that I didn’t need a scale for. So I started from scratch on my first real macaron making adventure.

Notes for next attempt: These came out rather flat and cracked instead of smooth and puffy like they were supposed to. I think this happened because I didn’t sift the ingredients as much as I needed to which made the ingredients hard to stir together, and thus caused me to overwhip the egg whites. We shall see what happens on take 2. For the filling, I used a chocolate ganache made of Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate and heavy cream. Even though these didn’t come out perfectly, they still tasted delicious (really good with ice cream in the middle, actually). I’m excited to try again as soon as I have time so that I can get really good at making them and make more macarons with different flavors and fillings.

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Macarons Hermé’s notes that come with the recipe:

“Egg Whites are the key element in this recipe. Take care to beat them until they are only just firm and still shiny, and don’t be concerned when, as you add the dry ingredients, they deflate - they’re supposed to. Knocking some of the air out of the whites is what will give these macaroons their characteristic smooth top. Keep the whites too firm and you’ll end up with meringue.”

• 1-1/3 cups (5 oz.) almond flour
• 2 cups plus 2 T. powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/2 cup egg whites (about 4 large; see step three)

1) Line two large insulated baking sheets with parchment (or stack two together if you don’t have insulated sheet pans). Fit a large pastry bag with a plain tip. Set aside.

2) Sift the sugar and cocoa, whisk in the almond flour.

3) For this recipe to succeed, you need 1/2 cup of egg whites which means using 3 large egg whites plus part of the fourth egg white. Gently whisk the extra egg white to break it up then measure it out. Bring the whites to room temperature. This is very important to get the most volume out of the whites.

4) Beat the whites at low to medium speed until they are white and foamy. Turn the speed up to high and whip them just until they are firm but still glossy and supple - when you lift the whisk, the whites should form a peak that droops just a little. Leave the whites in the mixer bowl or transfer them to a large bowl and, working with a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients gently into the whites in three of four additions. It will seem like a lot of dry ingredients to go into a relatively small amount of whites, but keep folding and you’ll get everything in. Don’t worry if the whites deflate and the batter looks a little runny - this is what’s supposed to happen. When all the dry ingredients are incorporated, the mixture will look like cake batter; if you lift a little with your finger, it should form a gentle, quickly falling peak.

5) Spoon the batter int the pastry bag and pipe it out on to the prepared baking sheets. Pipe the batter into rounds about 1” in diameter leaving about an inch between each round. When you’ve piped out all the macaroons, lift each baking sheet with both hands and then bang it down on the counter. Don’t be afraid - you need to get the air out of the batter. Set the baking sheets aside at room temp for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven.

6) Center the rack in the oven and preheat at 425F.

7) You should bake these one pan at a time, so dust the tops of the macarons with cocoa powder and slide one of the sheets in to the oven. As soon as the baking sheet is in the oven, reduce heat to 350F and insert the wooden handle of a spoon into the oven to keep the door slightly ajar. Bake the macarons for 10 to 12 minutes or until they are smooth and just firm to the touch. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and turn the oven back up to 425F.

To remove the macaron bases from the parchment - they should be removed as soon as they come from the oven - you will need to create moisture under the cookies. Carefully loosen the parchment at the four corners, and lifting the paper at one corner, pour a little (note: VERY little) hot water under the paper onto the baking sheet. The water may bubble and steam so be careful. Move the parchment around or tilt the baking sheet so that the parchment is evenly dampened, allow the macarons to remain on the parchment, soaking up the moisture for about 15 seconds, then peel the macarons off the paper and place them on a cooling rack.
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8) Repeat the process with the remaining sheet pan.

9) Pipe your choice of filling onto one base and top with second base.

Éclairs

I had an urge to bake, despite my allergies being so bad I could barely keep my eyes open. I’ve wanted to make pâte à choux since I was very little and saw Julia Child make it on television, but I always forget about all of the pastries that include it when thinking of what to make on my next baking adventure. When I was little, my mother used to buy those boxes of frozen cream puffs from the grocery store every so often and I would eat my weight in them, but cream puffs are never the first thing that comes to mind when I think “dessert.” Today, though, I remembered and decided I would make éclairs.

I used this recipe (the website also has a lovely photo tutorial to go with the recipe as well — I didn’t notice this until just now, but thankfully my éclairs turned out perfectly), except I used soy milk, since I had no other type of milk on hand, and about 1Tbsp of vanilla extract instead of a vanilla bean. I also made my choux dough by hand since the paddle attachment on my kitchenaid didn’t seem to be reaching the dough and I didn’t think it would work, and it was quite a workout for my arm (but completely worth it).

I also made the chocolate glaze differently, since I had no heavy cream.


Chocolate Glaze

• 3.5oz Ghiradelli Twilight Dark chocolate
• about 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 Tbsp light corn syrup
• 3 Tbsp butter

Over a double boiler, combine chocolate, corn syrup, and butter until melted and combined. Remove from heat and whisk until shiny. Refrigerate for about 5-10 minutes until chocolate starts to thicken. Dip the tops of filled éclairs into glaze, shaking gently to allow excess to drip off, then place upright on a wire rack and allow to set.

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars with Oreo Crust

Cheesecake is probably my favorite dessert, if you can’t tell by how many I make. And chocolate and strawberries is one of the best combinations ever, right? So after making oreo cheesecake bars, combining the two was the only option I could think of. Well maybe not the only option, but it sounded good at the time. If conditions were more favorable, this probably would have come out a lot better. I think I overcooked the crust, but that’s what happens when you’re in a rush, trying to cook things at 1am while your mother is asleep, and you’re whacking Oreos into crumbs with a rolling pin while still trying to not wake the whole neighborhood up. All in all, it still tasted pretty damn good.

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars with Oreo CrustFor the crust:

• 23 Oreo cookies
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake (recipe via mykitchensnippets):

• 2 package (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup strawberry jam

For the (optional) strawberry topping:

• about 6 or 7 strawberries, sliced (you may need more or less, depending on the size of your berries)
• 1/3 cup strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Grease and line an 8” x 8” square baking with parchment paper with leaving an overhang on both side (for easy removal of your slices later).
If you have a food processor: place the Oreos in the bowl of your food processor. Process, pulsing, until the cookies are finely ground. Add in the melted butter and pulse until the cookie crumbs are moistened. If you do not have a food processor: place Oreos in large ziploc bag, and beat with a rolling pin until finely ground. Transfer crumbs into a bowl and add in the melted butter, mixing until moist. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan. Press the crumbs into an even layer over the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then set aside while you prepare the filling.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour and lemon juice in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition, just until blended. Pour over crust. Heat up strawberry jam slightly in the microwave. Gently drop jam by small spoonfuls over top of batter. Cut through batter several times with knife for marble effect. Bake 40 min. or until center is set. Cool. Slice strawberries and heat up the additional 1/3 cup jam in the microwave. Layer your strawberries over the cheesecake, then drizzle the warm jam evenly over the berries and top of the cake. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before slicing.

Pretzel M&M Cookies

I made these for the first time last summer and now I make them constantly. They’re definitely in my top 5 favorite cookies. I used to think crispy M&Ms were the best kind of M&Ms, but I believe they stopped making them (or they’re just really difficult to find for whatever reason). Now pretzel ones are definitely my favorite. They also make the best cookies. Salty, sweet and crunchy.

Pretzel M&M Cookies

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups pretzel M&M’s
• Sea salt, for sprinkling on cookies

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Whisk flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl, set aside.
Cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
On low speed, slowly add in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and pretzel M&M’s.
Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough on greased prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake 10-12 minutes (I use REALLY big spoonfuls so mine usually take about 14 minutes) until cookies are slightly golden around the edges. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely, etc.
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

(recipe courtesy of Two Peas & Their Pod)

Berry Birthday Cake

I jumped at the chance to make this particular cake, since I had wanted to last year for my birthday, but fruit is never really in season around my birthday, unfortunately.
I originally followed this recipe for the frosting, but it tasted just like butter and nothing else, so that’s when I added the powdered sugar and other extra ingredients. If I made the frosting again, I would use the recipe below. Also, next time I would definitely put a layer of fresh berries (strawberries/blueberries/blackberries/raspberries) in between the layers of the cake. I didn’t have any at the time, so I just decorated the top with the few fresh berries we had on hand. It was delicious, but more strawberries would have definitely added to it.

Berry Birthday Cake  makes a 2 layer 8-inch cake or 24 cupcakes

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup blueberries (if frozen, do not thaw)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour two 8-inch round baking pans and set aside.

In a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure that everything is well mixed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition.
In a small bowl whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate small bowl combine the milk and vanilla extract.

With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk mixture in three batches. Start and end with the flour mixture. When the batter is just combined, shut off the mixture and thoroughly incorporate the dough with a rubber spatula.

Divide the batter between the two pans. Add blueberries to top of each pan. Poke them down into the batter a bit with either your finger or a spoon.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a pale golden color, and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. For cupcakes bake 25 to 30 minutes.
Let the cakes cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool. Frost and berry only when cakes are completely cool.

Cinnamon Vanilla Whipped Buttercream Frosting

• 2 sticks (1 cup) organic unsalted butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons organic vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Cream the butter on medium speed, 3 to 5 minutes, in a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer until soft, adout 30 seconds. Add the sugar a little at a time until completely incorporated. Add the vanilla and heavy cream, then beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. Stop the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again.
(adapted from Joy The Baker)

Cowboy Cookies

As with most cookie recipes, as soon as I saw this, I knew I had to make it. Pretzels & chocolate is one of my favorite combinations, and I love the texture of oatmeal cookies. I had some mini marshmallows left over from making “Copycat Momofuku Cornflake Marshmallow” cookies, and thought they might taste good (or even slightly like said cornflake cookies) pressed into the top of the batter.

Cowboy CookiesYields: about 40 cookies

• 1-3/4 c all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 c rolled oats
• 14 tbsp unsalted butter, cool but not cold, cut into cubes*
• 3/4 c granulated sugar
• 1 c dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 lg egg
• 1 lg egg yolk
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp espresso powder
• 2 c semisweet chocolate chunks
• 3/4 c thin salty pretzels, broken into tiny pieces but not crushed into dust
• about 1/4 c mini marshmallows (optional)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the oats and stir to combine. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and egg yolk, beating until the mixture looks light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, add the vanilla, and beat for 5 seconds. Dissolve the espresso powder in 1/4 c. hot water and add it to the bowl, mixing until combined.

Add half of the dry ingredients and mix for 15 seconds. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and fold in the chocolate chunks and 1/2 c. of the pretzel pieces. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out dough in 2-tablespoon-size balls and place the dough balls onto the prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle the remaining pretzel pieces over the dough balls. Use the palm of your hand to press the dough down lightly; don’t smash the cookie – you just want to slightly flatten the ball and push the pretzel pieces into the dough. Press mini marshmallows into the tops of the cookie with your fingers.

Bake for 11-13 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until the edges of the cookies are golden brown or just start to darken. Set the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes to cool. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely. They can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

(adapted slightly from mybakingheart)

Cinnamon Buns

I’ve never made cinnamon buns before, and every recipe I looked at needed some sort of yeast, which I didn’t have, so these are really a cross between biscuits, cinnamon rolls and monkey bread but they’re so good.

Cinnamon Buns For the Glaze

• 1/2 stick butter 
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon 

For the Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 tablespoon baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil 
• 3/4 cup whole milk 

For the Filling

• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 stick butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In a small, heavy saucepan, bring the glaze ingredients to a boil, spoon the mixture into the prepared pan so it completely covers the bottom, and set aside.
To make the biscuits, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the oil and milk till well blended, pour into the well, and stir just till a soft dough forms.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll into about an 18 x 10-inch rectangle.

In a small mixing bowl, mix together the filling ingredients. Using a pastry brush, spread the melted butter over the dough, then sprinkle the filling over the buttered dough. (if you have any butter left, just pour it over the filling). Starting from the short side, roll up the rectangle jelly-roll style into an 18-inch-long log, slice into 9 biscuits 2-inches thick, arrange the biscuits cut side down in 3 rows in the glazed pan, and bake till puffed and golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Invert the pan immediately onto a large platter so the glaze runs down over the biscuits. You can serve them like this, or frost them immediately.

For the Icing

• 2 Cups powdered sugar-sifted 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons milk

Add milk slowly, briskly whisking until all the sugar is dissolved. You may not use all the milk, stop when it has formed a thick paste.

(recipe adapted from pepsakoy)

Snickerdoodles

Ever since I was little, we always made snickerdoodles for Christmas and only then. I don’t believe they’re actually traditionally just a Christmas cookie, but that was the only time we ever made them. I remember helping my dad make the batter, then forming an assembly line with him for rolling them in the sugars (not just cinnamon sugar, but red and green colors for Christmas too), and of course eating half the cookie dough. It’s definitely one of my favorite childhood memories. As I got older, I realized not everyone only ate them during Christmas. My friends always wanted me to make them all times of the year, and I obliged but somehow felt bad about it, like I was betraying a family tradition, and so I never wanted to eat them. I still made them this Christmas though, and they were just as good as I remember. They just taste better during the holidays.

Snickerdoodles

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

(for rolling)

• about 2 tablespoons sugar
• about 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

*also I like rolling some in colored sugar, green and red for Christmas! (just take a couple drops of liquid food coloring and mix it in some sugar with a fork until it’s not lumpy and the colors are vibrant)

In a mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add about half of the flour, the 1 cup sugar, the egg, vanilla, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Beat until thoroughly combined. Beat in remaining flour. Shape into 1-inch balls and roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place about 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375* F for 10-11 minutes or until edges are golden.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Another thing on the list of foods I had never tried was red velvet cake. (Well I had some once and didn’t like it at all, but I figured the reason I didn’t like it was because it was from the grocery store, so I never really counted that as trying it.) So while my friend was over, we decided we’d make some red velvet cupcakes. I received The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook as a gift for my birthday in November, and had used it a few times before this (the best and only actually noteworthy I’ve made from it was Apple Pecan Quick Bread) and it had a recipe for red velvet cake, so I figured I’d try it out.
This was sadly one of the worst cakes I’ve ever made, due to it being too dry. All of the cake recipes I’ve made from this cookbook have been really dry. I think they purposely leave out ingredients in their cake recipes or something since that’s what the bakery is known for. I’m still not counting this as having tried red velvet cake, because I doubt this is what it was supposed to taste like. So here’s the recipe anyway, but if you want to make red velvet cake, I wouldn’t make this particular recipe:

Christmas Red Velvet Cupcakes (from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook)
Red Velvet Cake

• 3 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 6 tbsp red food coloring*
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pan with papers. In a small bowl sift the flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs beating well after each addition. In another small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring cocoa, and vanilla. (Basically just try to make a very red paste mixture. If your batter looks more pink than red after you add the cocoa-food coloring mixture to the rest of the wet ingredients, just keep adding more food coloring until it looks as red as you want it to be.) Add to the batter and beat very well, remembering to scrape down the sides of the bowl. In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overmix. In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter into the bowl making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth. Spoon the batter into the cupcake papers, about 3/4 full. Bake about 20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let cool and then frost cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Makes just over 2 dozen cupcakes.

Whipped Cream Cheese Icing

• 1lb (2 8oz packages) cream cheese, softened and cut into small pieces
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 5 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the vanilla and beat well. Gradually add the powdered sugar, alternating with the heavy cream. Then beat well for about 4-5 minutes until icing has a “whipped” texture and everything is incorporated. If need be, thicken in fridge for a couple hours, but no longer, before using.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

I made these for my mother because these are one of her favorite cookies. I, personally, despise white chocolate. It's not even really chocolate. I also learned macadamia nuts are rather difficult to chop up.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoons baking soda
• 10 ounces white chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1 cup macadamia nuts, toasted and salted, chopped into chunks

Preheat oven to 375 F.
In large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
Drop spoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown, and centre is set. Let cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

(recipe courtesy of onecaketwocake)

Brownie Cookies

These are probably my favorite cookie. I’ve never made these the same way twice, but they always seem to turn out delicious. Sometimes I use different kinds of chocolate, and/or cocoa powder, sometimes I add a little more or less sugar depending on what kinds of chocolates I’ve used. One time I even used chocolate sprinkles when I didn’t have enough of one kind of chocolate (it added a nice crunchy texture, I recommend trying it sometime). It all depends on what you have in your kitchen and your personal preferences.

Brownie “Puddle” Cookies

• 2 2/3 cup chocolate, chopped
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, heat the chocolate and butter until completely melted and smooth, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract; whisk until well combined. In a small bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Stir together and set aside.
Add the melted chocolate mixture to the sugar mixture and whisk until well combined. Mix in the dry ingredients, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
Drop scoops of about 1½ tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, evenly spaced. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they are firm on the outside and the dough has lost its sheen. Leave to cool completely on the baking sheets.
Transfer to a wire rack when firmly set, and repeat with any remaining dough, if necessary.

Hot Fudge Sunday Cupcakes

If you know me, you know I always like to bake something whenever I’m invited somewhere, or am going to see friends. I was going to PortCon Maine with some friends, and we were going to meet up with a bunch of friends we hadn’t seen in a long time (since they all live in Maine). So I asked everyone which cupcakes they would rather me make, and they picked these ones. They stayed surprisingly in tact during the 2 hour drive to Portland.
(recipe courtesy of Joy The Baker)