Jumbo Bakery Style Cookies

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty picky when it comes to everything cookies. Some would even call me a snob... And they wouldn't be wrong! I have been burned too many times by cookies from a bakery that look delicious, but end up tasting horrible. I like a combo of a chewy and crispy cookie and this recipe delivers on both!

The original recipe calls for all-purpose (AP) flour and two cups of chocolate chips, but this time I decided to use half whole wheat and half AP flour.  I also used a combination of butterscotch and semi-sweet chips as well as mini-marshmallows. I've also made these with a combo of peanut butter and milk chocolate chips.  That's what's so great about this recipe - The possibilities are endless.

You can certainly make these cookies "normal" sized, but I love how big these are.  People seem very impressed when they see these on a cookie tray.  This recipe has come be to my go-to recipe.  I urge you to make these soon.

For the recipe, please visit Picky Palate.

Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you all enjoyed a day full of love, fun, and chocolate!

XO,
Cate ❤

Almond Joy Truffles

Valentine's Day is two days away and it's a day for spoiling my friends and family with homemade treats. I found a recipe for coconut truffles on one of my favorite blogs - How Sweet It Is. I followed the recipe almost exactly. The only difference is I topped my truffles with an almond before I enrobed them in chocolate. They are super simple and a tad messy (as you can see in the photo!), but I highly recommend making these.

How do you like to spoil your loved ones on Valentine's?

Cookie Butter Cups

Oh heeyy! I've been snowed in for almost 30 hours and I'm bored out. of. my. mind! What is a girl to do when she's stuck in the house for days? Make candy, of course! Most people stock up on bread, milk, and eggs when a blizzard is on its way. I, on the other hand, stock up on butter, sugar, and chocolate!

With not much else to do than watch the storm coverage (yes, I looked out my window and see it's snowing, thankyouverymuch), I decided I'd make some treats for the special Valentines in my life! At first I planned on making peanut butter cups, but remembered I had a jar of cookie butter in the pantry. I immediately changed my mind and decided to make cookie butter cups. Instead of just using cookie butter for the center, I decided to add some Rice Krispies for crunch and I think it was the perfect addition!

These were really simple to make and I think they'll make a yummy addition to my Valentine treat boxes... That is, if they last until the 14th! ❤

Cookie Butter Cups

Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

Iowa Girl says her recipe yields 24, but I had lots of extra filling.  I will make more once I get around to melting more chocolate.  :)  I ended up putting chocolate in the cup, adding some of the cookie butter mixture and topping with more chocolate.  I put the cups in the fridge for about an hour to completely set.  Store in fridge.

An Owl-Themed Birthday Party

A very special little girl turned 1 last week and her mom asked me to bake cupcakes and sugar cookie favors for her birthday party. The theme of the party was owls with a pink and brown color scheme. I immediately began googling images of owl cookies and decided to follow an adorable idea I found on The Adventures of Sweet Sugarbelle.  Her work is always beautiful and I feel so inspired every time I visit her site.

If any of you have decorated sugar cookies with royal icing, you know it is a lengthy process that requires decent time management skills.  The main reason I haven't started a side business for baking is that I am a procrastinator and this time was no different!  I baked the cookies Wednesday night and I should have started decorating on Thursday, but I was just lazy and didn't start until Friday afternoon.  I also decided to bake cookies in the shape of a number one just to make the favors extra special.  That meant twice as many cookies to decorate in one afternoon!  To say I was stressed would be an understatement, but I think I ended up managing my time nicely and I was pleased with the results.

Luckily, since I had to let the owls dry for a bit before I added the details, I was able to bake the cupcakes while the cookies dried.  I saved the frosting until the next morning so that they would be nice and fresh.  I decided to bake both chocolate and vanilla since I love both, but I have to say the chocolate cupcakes were the best I'd made!  I used my stand-by recipe, which is from my mom, but this time, the cupcakes baked up perfectly.  I think they were also the favorite at the party.  I had originally planned to make little icing owls to top the cupcakes, but my poor time management skills got the best of me!

As a surprise the the birthday girl's mom, I decided to make a special cookie for family and close friends.  I had Aubrey's face printed on wafer paper so that I could put her adorable little face on a cookie.  I've always said she was so cute I could eat her up, and now I can!  :)

Overall, I was happy with how the cookies and cupcakes looked.  Not to brag, but I got rave reviews from the party-goers!  I think the birthday girl really enjoyed her first cupcake!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, AUBREY!!!

Homemade Thin Mints

Happy March!  I don't know about you, but I think the year is flying by very quickly.  I did manage to make it through the first couple of months without buying any Girl Scout cookies (or eating any, for that matter).  But, I felt a bit left out, so I decided I would make some cookies from scratch.

Thin mints are one of my favorite Girl Scout cookies and when I stumbled upon this recipe, I decided I needed to make them...  And soon!  I suppose I could just buy a dozen boxes box to benefit the Girl Scouts, but what fun is that?  Besides, this way, I can control the quality of the ingredients and I can feel better about eating them all in one sitting.

These were not the easiest cookies to make.  While the technique is very basic, it's a bit time consuming when it comes time to dipping the cookies in chocolate.  It also gets a tad messy, but again, that's part of the fun!  Because of the time these took to roll out and coat in chocolate, I will make these again, but only for a special occasion.

While the cookie isn't an exact replica of what you would buy from your friend in a green beret.  Wait.  Do Girl Scouts wear green berets?  Or am I confusing them with the army???  Whichever, these cookies have a very similar texture and taste to the original.  I suggest keeping these in the refrigerator or freezer as they don't contain any stabilizers to keep the chocolate from melting.  The only thing I would change is adding more peppermint to the chocolate coating and maybe a dash to the dough.  Otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing.

Oh, and the only reason I made these heart shaped is that I didn't have a small enough circle cookie cutter and this was the closest I could find to the size listed in the recipe.  For a the full recipe visit Handle the Heat.

Go forth and prosper.  Or serve God and your country.  Whatever it is Girl Scouts swear to do - Is it obvious I wasn't a Girl Scout?

Cooking Light Chocolate Chip Cookes

I was craving chocolate chip cookies yesterday but I've been trying to be good about what I eat - Especially since I've been sick and haven't been able to exercise as often as I'd like!  I found a quick recipe in one of the Cooking Light cookbooks I have and got to work.  The dough came together pretty quickly as chocolate chip cookies usually do.  The dough is a bit softer than many doughs but I think it's because it has less butter than most recipes - Strained applesauce replaces much of the butter.  The recipe called for semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I had bittersweet, milk and semi-sweet on hand so I decided to use all three.  YUM!  What is better than a triple-chocolate chip cookie!?  I can't think of much!








While the cookies baked the house filled with the wonderful aroma of chocolate.  These cookies did not disappoint - They were chocolatey, gooey and chewy.  You can hardly tell that these cookies are low in fat and and calories.  The best part about these (besides the chocolate; can you tell I love chocolate?!) is that they are only 78 calories and contain less than 3g of fat per cookie!

Chocolate Cake with Fleur de Sel Caramel Filling

I found this recipe on bonappetit.com and knew right away I wanted to make it for my New Year's Eve party.  It was a hit - the star of the show!  I could have served just the cake and my guests would have been completely content.

The first step is to bake the chocolate cake.  I baked the cakes Wednesday evening and kept them in the refrigerator until I was ready to assemble the cake Friday afternoon.  This made the cake nice and firm and easy to slice into four layers.

The next steps include making the chocolate ganache and the fleur de sel caramel sauce.  I made both of these Thursday night.  The ganache is super easy - Warm cream poured over bittersweet chocolate.  The caramel was a little more labor intensive, but well worth it.  The only thing I wish the recipe would have included was what temperature the sugar should be before removing it from the heat and adding the rest of the ingredients.  The recipe says to cook the sugar until it's an amber color.  I think I took mine a bit too far past the "soft ball" stage as the sugar started to harden when I added the cream and butter.  It ended up working out okay but next time I will take the sugar off the head a bit sooner.

The final step is assembling the cake.  Each layer consists of cake, ganache, caramel sauce, a sprinkling of fleur de sel and toasted almonds.  The cake comes together fairly quickly.  A huge thing I learned was to leave the ganache out for a long time in order to bring it to room temperature and be able to easily spread it.  This took me three times to realize that it takes hours (seven, in fact) for the ganache to be spreadable.  This made my life much easier!  After assembling the four layers, you frost the cake with the remainder of the ganache.  Once frosted, you decorate the sides of the cake with the rest of the toasted almonds.

I put this cake out as the centerpiece of the table on New Year's Eve and my guests could hardly wait for it to be dessert time!  The cake was a hit and not one person left a crumb on his plate!  I highly recommend making this cake.  It does have a lot of steps, but it is well worth it!

Enjoy and happy eating in 2011!

Source: Bon Appetit

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2008/09/chocolate_cake_with_fleur_de_sel_caramel_filling

Chocolate Peppermint Cake

The beloved chocolate peppermint cake!  I stumbled across this recipe while waiting in line at Whole Foods a few years ago.  The giant slice of cake on the cover instantly made me drool.  I purchased the magazine - Bon Appetit and immediately decided to bake the cake for Christmas.

 

 

The cake has four major components - Chocolate cake, chocolate ganache, white chocolate peppermint cream and peppermint marshmallow frosting.  Each part is fairly simple, but overall time consuming.  Each time I've made this, I swear I won't make it again.  But, once I take the first bite, I remember it's well worth the time and effort!  There's a reason this is my sister's favorite cake.  It's one of the most delicious cakes I've ever tasted!

After baking the cake and making both the ganache and chocolate cream, it was time to assemble this beauty of a cake!  There are four layers in total - Alternating cake, ganache and cream.  I did this the day before frosting the cake so that it was nice and solid and much better for transporting - I ended up frosting the cake at my sister's house so that there would be no accidents en route!

 

The final step is making the sticky, sugary, heavenly peppermint frosting.  Forget seven minute frosting - This is something like a 20 minute frosting.  After whisking sugar, water and egg whites into marshmallow ribbons, you whip on high with an electric mixer until the frosting looks (and tastes) like Fluff!  It's well worth the 20 minutes or so it takes to come together.  Once the frosting is complete, it's time to frost the cake.  This part is fun because you can make the cake look like it's covered in snow - Sticky, marshmallow snow!  

After hours of work, it's time to enjoy the masterpiece!  It took all of our might, but we did wait to have dessert until after dinner.  It was hard, but it was well worth the wait!

 

Source: Bon Appetit

 

Ingredients

cake

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

2 cups ice water

Dark chocolate ganache

1 1/3 cups heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

14 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

white chocolate cream

12 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), finely chopped

3 cups chilled heavy whipping cream, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons pure peppermint extract

peppermint frosting

2 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

3 large egg whites

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract

Bittersweet chocolate curls

Preparation

cake

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Dust pans with flour; tap out excess. Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in yolk. Add cocoa and beat until well blended. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with ice water in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating until just blended and smooth after each addition. Divide batter between prepared pans; smooth tops.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks and cool completely. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap in foil; store at room temperature.

Dark chocolate ganache

Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat; add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer to small bowl. Chill until firm enough to spread, about 1 hour. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Before using, let stand at room temperature until soft enough to spread, about 30 minutes.

white chocolate cream

Place white chocolate in large heatproof bowl. Bring 1 cup cream to simmer in saucepan. Pour hot cream over white chocolate. Let stand 1 minute; whisk until smooth. Whisk in extract. Cover; chill until mixture thickens and is cold, at least 4 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill.

Add 2 cups chilled cream to white chocolate cream and beat until smooth and peaks form. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 hours ahead. Cover and chill. Rewhisk to thicken, if necessary, before using.

Using long serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half. Place 1 cake layer on platter, cut side up. Spread 1/3 of dark chocolate ganache over cake. Spoon 2 cups white chocolate cream in dollops over cake; spread evenly to edges. Top with second cake layer, cut side down; spread 1/3 of ganache over, then 2 cups white chocolate cream. Repeat with third cake layer, cut side up, remaining ganache, and remaining cream. Cover with fourth cake layer, cut side down. Chill while preparing frosting.

peppermint frosting

Combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, egg whites, and corn syrup in large bowl of heavy-duty stand mixer. Whisk by hand to blend well. Set bowl with mixture over saucepan of gently simmering water; whisk constantly with hand whisk until mixture resembles marshmallow creme and ribbons form when whisk is lifted, 8 to 9 minutes. Whisk in peppermint extract. Remove bowl from over water and attach bowl to heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until mixture is barely warm to touch and very thick, 7 to 8 minutes.

Using offset spatula and working quickly, spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle chocolate curls over top and sides. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; chill.