Not beautiful...but tasty

Today is Lucy's birthday and for my friend's special day, I made Toffee Bit Cookies.  I've never really used toffee bits before, but since I've met Lucy, I've used them multiple times.  They're her favorite after all. I was definitely trying to go for something other than cupcakes. I'm all cupcake-d out.  

But who am I kidding? I'll probably make more cupcakes next week...

In the meantime, toffee bit cookies.

 The toffee bit bag had a recipe on the back for their version of these cookies, however, I made my version.

 I used my favorite chocolate chip cookie dough recipe (aka Nestle Tollhouse with a tweak) and just subbed in heath bits for chocolate chips.  Notice how they spread out...well, that's probably because I nuked the butter in microwave.  I have no patience for room temperature things...we know this.

They aren't beautiful, but believe me, they are tasty nonetheless.

In addition to these cookies, I got her two new succulent plants! She's got a thing for succulents.  I had to channel my inner green thumb in order to pot these little guys.  Thank goodness for directions on the back of the "Cactus/Succulent Potting Soil."

Pretty, no?

Happy Birthday, Lucy!

Toffee Bit Cookies

2 sticks butter, room temperature or softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 bag ( 1 1/3 cup) toffee bits

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in separate bowl.  Beat together butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs.  Add in flour mixture a little at a time until well combined.  Fold in toffee bits and scoop onto cookie sheets. bake 8-10 minutes or until golden.

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

A couple of weeks ago, I asked the husband to pick me up a few baking necessities for my favorite chocolate chip cookies.  For the record, the husband has seen me make these cookies a million times and devoured them a million times.  Now what I consider common baking sense, the husband is clueless.  The sweet man comes home with three different types of chocolate chips.  Milk chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and a fancy chocolate chips with the percentage of "cacao" on the bag.

"I didn't know which kind you use for your cookies," he said, "so I just got an assortment and hoped one was the right kind."

Well, he's got a good heart.  I kindly told him that most basic chocolate chip cookie recipes called for semi-sweet...and then I called him a goofball...and made him cookies.

So I've had these milk chocolate chips sitting in my pantry for weeks and I'm not good about just letting things sit in there and not get used.  Which is why I decided to try out a new cupcake recipe....Chocolate Chip Cupcakes  (with milk chocolate chips).

I adapted the cupcake recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my home to yours cookbook.  It's her recipe for the "Perfect Party Cake" that I made a few tweaks and adjustments to.

The icing is a very vanilla buttercream that I adapted from My Baking Addiction. 

I stuck a mini chips ahoy in the top for good measure.

Props to the husband for holding up a placemat for a good background for the pictures.

Thoughts about these cupcakes:

1. The chocolate chips sank to the bottom.

2.  The milk chocolate chips didn't melt like I thought they would and make an ooey-gooey cupcake.  Instead the hardened right when they cooled.

3.  I'm sorry all my cupcake wrappers are in birthday print. I need some solid colors.

4.  I prefer cream cheese icing to buttercream.  

5.  The white cake was good, but is better microwaved than just at room temperature. 

6.  I need to move on from cupcakes.

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Cake recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk

4 large egg whites

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 stick (8 tbsp) butter, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract (clear)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake tin with wrappers.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

Whisk together egg whites and milk.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).  Add vanilla extract.  Alternate adding wet mixture and dry mixture until fully combined.  Beat another 2 minutes to ensure batter is thoroughly aerated and mixed.  Scoop batter into cupcake pan.

Bake 18-20 minutes.

Very Vanilla Buttercream

3 sticks butter, room temperature

2 lbs powdered sugar

2 tbsp clear vanilla extract

6 tbsp whipping cream

pinch of salt

Beat butter until light.  Slowly add in powdered sugar until combined.  Add vanilla extra.  Add whipping cream 1 tbsp at a time until desired consistency.  Frost cupcakes.

Toffee Caramel Crunch

This week, I watched these two little bundle of joys.

Don't lie. These are probably the cutest pumpkin patch pictures you've ever seen...and cutest kids.

Meet Aubrey and Owen---my older sister's 16-month old twins.  While my sister and her husband were vacationing in the Dominican Republic this week, my mom and I took turns with these little tykes.  Not going to lie. I have a totally new respect for parenthood after this week.  After my first full day and night with them, I felt like I was last year's self, working night shifts at the hospital---exhausted, sleep-deprived, and chugging caffeine.  

I semi-baby-proofed my new house, but nothing gets by these two.  Remote controls placed 6-feet off the ground---they'll just climb.  Try to do something not involving them---they'll pull your computer off the table to get your attention.  Despite all the running around and sleepless nights, I thoroughly enjoyed having them here.  (But not enough to have my own, so don't ask)

Anyways, after dropping them off at my mom's for their last hurrah with her before the 'rents come home, I didn't know what to do with myself.  But wait, yes I do.  Make cupcakes.  

This is my attempt to make my friend's third and final cupcake flavor for her wedding.  

Months ago, Lucy described a cake to me that she and her fiance' had had when they were visiting a small diner in Oregon.  She said it was their favorite cake and they always talked about it, but had never been able to find anything like it again.  We attempted a version of it a while back, but came up with something sticky and overly sweet.  I knew I would have to try to recreate this cake somehow for their wedding and here's my 2nd attempt.  I give you Salted Caramel Crunch Cupcakes. 

Chocolate cake with toffee bits, salted caramel frosting, and a drizzle of caramel and toffee bits on top.

You can do it with or without the drizzle if you prefer. They both look pretty yummy. 

I'm little bit embarrassed to admit that this is a glorified box cake mix.  It's doctored up and delicious, but a box nonetheless.  Not going to lie though, Betty Crocker does it right. It's hard to go wrong with a box cake mix.  

I adapted the recipe from My Baking Addiction for her Snickers cupcakes.  

In other news, I ordered new frosting tips and so begins the practicing.  :)

Toffee Caramel Crunch Cupcakes

Cake:

1 box Devil's Food Cake mix

1 box Instant chocolate pudding

1 cup sour cream

1 cup veggie oil

4 eggs

1/2 cup warm water

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup toffee bits

Mix together all ingredients until combined.  Fill cupcake tin with liners 2/3 of the way full.  Bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.

Frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter---room temp

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 lbs powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup caramel sundae topping (and extra for drizzling)

Cream together butter and shortening. Add vanilla, salt, and caramel until well mixed.  Add in powdered sugar a little at a time until combined.  Frost cupcakes and garnish with caramel drizzle and toffee bits. 

Hello, cupcake!

Have you ever made a batter that was so unbelievably good, you couldn't get it in the oven soon enough for fear you would devour every last bit of it, raw eggs and all?  Or icing that's so addicting you just want to pipe it into your mouth instead of on the cake? Usually, cookie dough is my downfall.  Until yesterday.  May I present to you my new favorite cupcake...Lemon Zest Cupcakes.  Or Lemony Goodness Cupcakes.  I haven't quite decided. But they are cupcakes with lemon zest, juice, extract. You name it. And they are amazing. 

I came across this recipe the other day on a new blog and immediately knew I had to try these.  For one, I love lemon bars, lemon meringue pie, lemon girl scout cookies. All of the above.  Also, I've been looking for a few cake recipes to try out for my friend's wedding---she's asked me to do the groom's "cup"cakes and he's more of a lemon guy than chocolate.  I plan to do a few different flavors, lemon now being one of them.

The cake was moist and delicious---maybe the buttermilk use?  And the icing is cream-cheesey with a hint of lemon that makes you slightly pucker your mouth. 

Carrot cake move aside.  This lemon stuff is where it's at. 

Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting 

From My Baking Addiction

For the Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
lemon zest from two lemons
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

Center a rack in the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cupcake tins by using liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extracts, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Place the batter into the cupcake tins.

Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the cupcakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean.  Cool on wire rack.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
2 (8) ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
2 lbs. confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
juice of one lemon

Using a mixer, blend the butter and cream cheese together until well combined. Gradually add in the confectioners’ sugar until fully incorporated. Finally mix in vanilla and lemon juice.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Nelly!

Today is my crazy precious Weimaraner's 2nd birthday!  You may remember that last year I made Nelly a yummy, pink strawberry cake with whipped cream-cream cheese frosting.

This year, I steered away from "traditional" cake and went with an old favorite---Cherry Cheesecake.  Now this isn't your ordinary cheesecake.  For one, it's not baked. Two, there's no eggs.  Three, it has less fat.

It's more of a "whipped" cheesecake. And that's all you need to know.

This recipe is one my great-grandmother used to make for Sunday dinners, along with an assortment of other pies and cakes.  It's a lightened up version of a regular cheesecake, but I say just as good. 

The cake calls for cream cheese---I used light cream cheese---, sour cream---I actually used Fage Greek yogurt, because that's what I had and it's essentially the same thing---, and Cool Whip---there's no skimping on Cool Whip. Just go with it. 

I almost put fresh blackberries on top instead of the cherry pie filling, but I just loved the idea of the contrast colors with using my brand new bright yellow pie dish that we got for a wedding present (grin) and the bright red cherries.  So there ya go, sugary goodness on top. We'll save the fresh berries for summer.

Since we haven't cut into it yet, here's the disclosure: this cheesecake does not cut like a regular cheesecake---you pretty much have to scoop it. Don't expect clean cut slices, it won't happen. Unless you freeze it. Then maybe it will. 

Nelly can hardly wait for her birthday celebration tonight. Can you tell?

Love you, Nelly!

Cherry Cheesecake 

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt)

2 tsp vanilla 

1 graham cracker pie crust (I used a box of graham cracker crumbs and made my own crust)

1 cup cherry pie filling 

3 1/2 cup Cool Whip

1 can cherry pie filling (or any pie filling)

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar. Blend in sour cream and vanilla.  

Fold in whipped topping, blending well.

Spoon into crust. Chill until set, at least 4 hours. Spread cherry pie filling on top.  Chill until ready to serve. 

Back to baking

Pretty sure it's been a few months since my last post---my apologies.  A little thing called "planning a wedding" seemed to consume and take over all of my time.  Now that that's out of the way---back to baking.

With a wedding, though, comes a multitude of presents.  Only problem is....I have no space to unpack them.  Hence the reason, these said presents now make up the "present room."

I can hardly wait to get into a bigger and (much) better place and start using all of these wonderful items.

Until then, I've stuck to my same old baking dishes, but tried out a few new recipes.

First up, Chicken Parmesan with Pepperoni.  I made this last night and I'm pretty sure the words "You're the best wife ever," came out of my husband's mouth.  And rightly so. This might be my new favorite meal.  No lies.

I admit, this pictures makes the dish look super greasy, but I swear that resting "grease" is what cooked out of the chicken, with a little pepperoni goodness/grease on top.  

I can't wait for leftovers tonight!

In addition to the chicken parmesan, I tried out a recipe for Salted Caramel Butter Bars that I found on a blog my younger sister reads.  They looked fabulous, sounded fabulous, and you can't really go wrong with butter.  I put my own twist on the recipe though and added "low-sugar" apple pie filling.

I call them "Caramel Apple Pie Bars" (with lots of butter).

Little bit closer? Here ya go.

After the husband tried these, he said I was "definitely the best wife ever."  And I smiled.

Try these yourself. You won't be disappointed.  And now I need to go for a run.

Chicken Parmesan with Pepperoni

adapted from Food and Wine and ELR

4 Chicken Breasts, pounded thin

2 cups Panko bread crumbs

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup milk

1 cup shredded mozzarella

2 ounces pepperoni

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan

1 large jar marinara sauce

1/4 cup oil

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450.  In a shallow dish, combine eggs and milk.  In another shallow dish, pour panko. In one more dish, spread the flour.  Add salt and pepper to the flour.

Pound each of the chicken breasts thin (I didn't get mine thin enough). Dip each chicken breast in the egg mixture, then the panko breadcrumbs, then the flour.  

Heat oil on medium heat in large skillet.  Add the chicken breasts and lightly fry until golden on each side and cooked through.  Because my chicken breasts were a little on the "thick" side.  I cooked them until golden brown on each side, then put them on a pan in the oven for about 5-10 minutes until cooked through, so I wouldn't burn them in the skillet.  

Place cooked chicken breasts in 9x13 pan and cover with marinara sauce.  I used 3/4 of the jar on the chicken breasts and put the rest aside to put over my pasta.  Sprinkle the parmesan cheese and mozzarella over the chicken breasts and top with pepperoni slices.  

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and serve with noodles....and a Pinot Grigio. :)

Caramel Apple Pie Bars

adapted from Cookies and Cups

Crust:

1 lb. salted butter room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tbsp vanilla

4 cups flour

Filling:

1 can apple pie filling (or any pie filling for that matter)

Topping:

1/2 bag of caramel candies (I used the ones in the baking section that were already unwrapped)

To make the crust:

Preheat oven to 325.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugars.  Beat until creamy.  Add the vanilla.  Add the flour until mixed and soft dough forms.

Spray 9x13 dish with PAM and press half of the dough evenly into the pan.  Place rest of dough in refrigerator until ready to use.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until a pale golden brown then take out of oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes.

Pour can of pie filling onto crust, then crumble the rest of the dough on top of the filling and baking for another 30-35 minute, until lightly golden.

While bars are baking, microwave caramel pieces until melted and smooth.  May need to add 1-2 tbsp of milk to thin out.  

Once bars are out of the oven, drizzle caramel over the top.  Let cool and serve.  

Rainy Day Bread

When the weather outside looks dreary,

And you have these items sitting in your fridge:

It only seems practical to make this:

That, my friends, is Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Bread. And here's how you make it. First, you need the following ingredients:

Then, you mix the wet ingredients together (in your pretty pink mixer, of course)

Now mix the dry in a separate bowl:

And add them to the wet.  Be sure to mix only until combined:

Should look something like this:

Now pour it into a greased 9x5 pan and suddenly remember that you forgot to add the oil to the wet ingredients. Well, don't follow these instructions exactly...maybe follow the recipe. But yes, I completely forgot to add the oil.  I seriously contemplated pouring the mixture back into the bowl and adding the oil....but then I decided to just skip it. I've made plenty of recipes substituting apple sauce or pumkin puree for oil, so we'll see how it turns out.

End result:

Moist and delicious pumkin/banana/chocolate chip bread. (Actually the recipe I followed did not call for chocolate chips, I just added them for good measure.)

Who needs oil? Not this recipe.

Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

adapted from Allrecipes.com

2 ripe bananas

1 1/3 cup pumpkin puree

2 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil (optional)

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into greased 9x5. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!