Fully Baked

Brownie Pillow Cookies

Labels: brownies, chocolate chip cookie, dessert | at 10:51 PM

It's been a really long time since I've posted anything, and that's because my poor little oven broke! Gardner Boy and I now have a new one which we found on sale and hastily (maybe too hastily) bought because I was so desperate to have an oven again! It was definitely on sale for a reason, but its ok cuz I wont be using it for long... Just until Gardner Boy and I move to a bigger place (with a bigger oven!), which will be happening soon!

Anyway, to the Brownie Pillow Cookie.

Imagine a soft cuddly puppy, flopping around on towels and pillows, and think of warmth and comfort. That's the feeling you get when biting into this cookie. Need I say more?

You Will Need:

1 package brownie mix

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1 tbsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
12 oz. bag miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Brownie:

Bake the package of brownies according to package instructions and let cool. If you can figure out the measurements, I would suggest making only half of the package. I had a lot of extra. Then again, some wouldn't mind having extra brownies lying around. :)

Cut about ten 1 inch (about 3 cm) squares.

Chocolate Chip Cookie:

Beat the butter with a mixer until its creamy.

Add the brown sugar and beat until smooth.

Add the eggs, yolk, and vanilla, and beat until smooth.

Combine the flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a medium bowl and stir together with a wire whisk.

Add the flour to the butter mixture and beat until combined, and stir in the chips.

Let the dough chill covered in the fridge for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 176°C (350°F).

Use a 1/3 cup to scoop the batter. Since it’s chilled, you may need to pack it with a spoon. Then use the spoon to remove the dough from the cup and place it on parchment paper. Work quickly so that the dough remains chilled. You can prepare one cookie at a time so the rest of the dough remains cold.

After the dough is on the parchment paper, make an indentation and place a brownie square in the middle. Press the brownie down gently and work the remaining dough around the brownie. Shape the dough into a ball. The cookie comes out pretty large, so leave a nice about of space between each one.

The brownie square nestled in the indented cookie dough.

Prepare 4-6 cookies at a time, and bake for about 16-18 minutes. Put the rest of the dough to the fridge until its time to bake the second batch.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes about 10 cookies.

Doughnut Muffins

Labels: doughnuts, muffins | at 8:11 PM

I've always wanted to make traditional doughnuts but when I saw these I just couldn't resist!

These muffins really taste like real doughnuts... I think maybe its because of the nutmeg, which gives the muffin a surprising dunkin'-doughnut-like flavor.
I've always enjoyed doughnuts, especially dunkin's Boston Cream (yum!). But what I really LOVE are munchkins.
You get the awesome flavor of doughnuts but in a tiny package of explosive deliciousness... I can't really get through a whole doughnut, because towards the end I begin to feel the sugar overload, but for some reason I don't feel that way when eating munchkins! I can eat a dozen of those babies...I really cant help myself :)
When I bit into one of these, that feeling cam flooding back. I just wanted more!
These are super easy, but read through the directions completely before beginning because the topping needs to be made while the muffins are in the oven, and you'll need to prepare that ahead of time.

You Will Need:
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used cake flour for lack of anything else and it came out amazing)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk or soy milk
Jam

Topping:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 176°C (350°F).
Using a whisk, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon in a large bowl.
In another bowl, combine the sugar, oil, egg, and milk. I used soy milk since I'm sadly lactose intolerant. Although substituting soy milk for milk in cooking can sometimes ruin a dish, for the most part, I've found that its okay in baking. And it was more than okay in this goody.
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture just until combined.
Spray a muffin or cupcake tin with cooking spray, and fill the cups halfway with batter.
Place one teaspoon of jam onto the batter, and then cover the jam with another layer of batter. Pretty much, your making a sandwich... the cups should be 3/4 of the way full.
Bake the muffins for 20-25 mins.
While the muffins are in the oven prepare the topping. Melt the butter in a bowl.
Then, in a separate bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.
Right after the muffins come out of the oven, dip the tops into the butter and then into the sugar-cinnamon mixture. My mouth was salivating at this point.

Serve warm or room temp.
Enjoy these for all they're worth!

The Ultimate Layered Cookie Bar

Labels: chocolate, chocolate chip cookie, chocolate cookie, cookies, dessert, peanut butter, sugar cookie | at 11:18 AM

This past weekend I went home to celebrate two family occasions. And what better way to celebrate than to make every cookie possible... Or, every cookie possible in one bite!

This recipe took some time and effort, but as in all things, it was worth it! Every layer of this cookie bar is infused with sugary sweetness, balancing the four different flavors of everyone's favorite cookies: sugar, chocolate, peanut butter, and classic chocolate chip.

My family looooved this bar... and my aunt even called it sinful. Sinful or sublime, a bite of this cookie bar makes you sigh in happiness :)

Since this bar has four layers there are four different ingredient lists. Read through them carefully to make sure you have all the ingredients you need. I'll be giving you the instructions for each sections along with the ingredients. A little tip I would have liked to know when making these: the dough is kind if hard to deal with because of its stickiness, making it difficult to smoothly spread each layer. I had to use my fingers to spread the layers in pieces so that they wouldn't ruin the layers bellow. So, if you make the batters ahead of time and refrigerate them, they might be be easier to handle.

I also cut everything down to half.

You will need:

Layer 1: Sugar Cookie

1/2 cup and 2.5 tbsp flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup butter, softened

heaping 1/3 cup white sugar

1/4 egg

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Or, 1 Roll of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough

Prepare a baking dish by lining it with foil and spraying it with cooking spray (I forgot to line the dish with foil and realized later that it would have made my life much easier because it enables you to pull out the bars in order to cut them when there done, as opposed to wrestling with the pan like I did).
Preheat the oven to 176°C (350°F).

If you're using the roll of Pillsbury, press the dough into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish.

If not, in a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder, and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Then beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.

Press the dough into the lined and sprayed pan and set aside, or put in the fridge to harden.

Layer 2: Double Chocolate Chip Cookie

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

heaping 1/3 cup brown sugar

1 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 and heaping 1/3 cups flour

1/2 cup and 2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

heaping 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used white chocolate chips which looked really cute peeping out of the bars).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Slowly add the eggs and vanilla until well combined.

In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Slowly add this mixture to the wet ingredients, and then stir in the chips. Layer the dough over the sugar cookie layer, pressing gently.

Layer 3: Peanut Butter Cookie

1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter (I used crunchy)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 egg

This layer isn't so much of a cookie as it is a spread. I doubled this part of the recipe because I didn't think it was enough, but it turned out to be too much. so stick with this amount.

Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix until combined. Press over the chocolate cookie dough.

Layer 4: Chocolate Chip Cookie

113 grams (1 stick) softened butter

heaping 1/3 sup white sugar

heaping 1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 a bag chocolate chips

Make sure oven is preheated to 176°C (350°F). In a mixer cream the butter and sugars until well combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt.

Slowly add dry mixture to the wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips.

Spoon the dough evenly over the peanut butter cookie dough but don’t press, just leave uneven.

Bake covered for 20-30 minutes or until center of dough is cooked mostly through (check with a knife or toothpick). Uncover and bake for another 15 mins or until the edges begin to brown.

Let cookies cool completely, and then, using the edges of the foil, lift out of the pan.

To add a nice visual element, drizzle the top with 1/2 a cup of melted chocolate chips.

Enjoy!!

My cutie niece was sooo excited to help make and eat the cookies!

Molten Muffin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Labels: chocolate, cookies, muffins | at 1:27 PM

This dessert is every kid's (and adult's) dream come true. Its a cookie, its a muffin, its got tuns of chocolate, and its mind-bogglingly good!
This recipe came from the new Kosher by Design cookbook Teens and Twenty Somethings. Disregarding the lame name, this cookbook has recipes that not many can resist, especially the one I just made!
Once again, I cut down the recipe in half, which made about 12 little cupcake-sized cookies. It should make less, but its impossible to find deep/big muffin tins in this country! All I can ever find are the little cupcake sizes... which actually made these into really nice bite-sized treats.
The best way to eat these is straight from the oven. Gardner Boy and I put them on a hot plate while we ate lunch so that by the time we got to dessert they were hot and gooey in the inside with the perfect crunch and munch on the outside!

You will need:

1 1/8 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
113 g (1 stick) butter/margarine, at room temp for 15 mins.
heaping 1/3 cup sugar
heaping 1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup chocolate chips
1 semi-sweet chocolate bar, broken into squares
muffin/cupcake tins

Preheat the oven to 176°C ( 350°F).
In a Medium bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a larger bowl use a mixer to combine the butter, sugar, brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla and eggs, and mix.
Add half the flour mixture and combine. Add the rest and, when fully mixed, add the chocolate chips.
Spray the tins with cooking spray and fill each tin a quarter of the way with a ping-pong sized ball. Flatten the ball so that it completely fills the bottom of the cup.
Stack 1-2 (I did 1) squares of chocolate onto the cookie mixture. Now cover the chocolate with another ball of cookie dough. Flatten to completely cover.
Bake the cookies until they are golden brown on top, about 20-25 mins, depending on the size of the tin. The tops should be brown, not wet looking.

Enjoy!

Cocoa Crinkle Cookies

Labels: chocolate, cookies, dessert | at 6:57 PM

When looking for a chocolate cookie recipe, these popped out at me because of one word in the name: crinkle. Who doesn't want to eat a cookie that crinkles?
I got these from Hershey chocolate's website, and they certainly lived up to their name!
These have an incredibly moist and almost cake-like consistency inside with that great "crinkle" on the outside.

I had some trouble with shaping the actual cookies, but with a little innovation, theses babies came out great!
And,be careful not to burn these... I had to go through a couple of batches to get them right. They take constant checking and the right temperature...I had my oven on too high, which, silly me, took 2 batches to figure out...

Sadly burnt and dry :(

I cut the recipe in half which made about two dozen cookies.

You will need:

1 cups granulated sugar

heaping 1/3 cup vegetable oil

heaping 1/3 cup Cocoa (Or, since Gardner Boy convinced me to be a little adventurous, we cut it into a 1/4 cup cocoa and an 1/8 cup Nesquick)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup and 2 tbsp flour

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Powdered sugar

Combine granulated sugar and oil in large bowl. Add the cocoa, beating until well blended. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add it to cocoa mixture, beating well.

Cover and refrigerate until the dough is firm enough to handle, at least 6 hours. This is where it got messy for me. You're refrigerating the dough so that it'll harden enough for you to form it into balls later. My dough wasn't hard enough after 6 hours, so I simply used two spoons to spoon the dough onto the baking sheet. It worked fine, but the cookies came out looking like blobs instead of smooth, round shapes.

Heat the oven to 176°C (350°F). Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll the balls in powdered sugar to coat. Because mine were spooned on, I first spooned them all onto the baking sheet, and then sprinkled the powdered sugar on top. Place the balls about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies 11 to 13 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched lightly, and the tops are crackled. Cool slightly. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack and cool completely.

Enjoy!

Cranberry Oat Scones

Labels: breakfast, cranberry, oats, scones | at 11:30 PM

Last week I tried to make scones from Asher's cookbook. They came out pretty hard, dry, flat, and sorta tasteless. This was the third of baking experiments to go wrong, so I was pretty bummed that they didn't come out right...

So, after doing some research, I found a better recipe!
First, though, I wanted to find out a bit about their origin, and found out (thanks to Wikipedia), that the scone is a small British quick bread (or cake if the recipe includes sugar) of Scottish origin. The original scone was round and flat, usually the size of a medium sized plate. It was made with unleavened oats and baked on a griddle (or girdle, in Scots), then cut into triangle-like portions to serve. Today, people call the large round cake a bannock, and the portions scones.
Well, I made my scones bannock style :)
Along with cranberries, this recipe calls for lemon zest which really gives the scone a nice zing! Put some jam on there.. yum yum.

You will need:

1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup cranberries/cherries/raisins
Zest of one lemon or orange
2/3 cup milk or buttermilk

Egg Wash:
1 large egg
1 tblsp milk or cream

Preheat the oven to 190 C (375 F) and place rack in the center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Add the butter, and using two knives or a pastry blender cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Add and mix the rolled oats, dried cranberries, and zest.
Slowly stir in the milk and mix just until the dough comes together.
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough four or five times. Pat, or roll, the dough into a circle that is 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 1 1/2 inches (3.75 cm) thick.

I'm not sure how many inches this is, but it was good enough for me...

Cut this circle into 8 triangular sections.
Place the scones on the prepared baking sheet.

My tiny oven can only handle so many baked goods at a time, so I arranged them in a way that took up the least space :)

Make an egg wash of one beaten egg mixed with 1 tbsp milk or cream and brush the tops of the scones.
Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes or until lightly browned. To check if they're ready, stick a toothpick in the middle. If it comes out clean, the scones are done!
Move the scones to a wire rack to cool, and eat them fresh and warm!

Makes 8 scones.

Whoopie Pies

Labels: dessert, peanut butter, whoopie pis | at 11:32 PM

I made these a couple of months ago, and so when I decided to post them, I just had to investigate the origin of the name for you...

Of course, I found my answer on Wikipedia.

First, the definition:

"The Whoopie pie (alternatively called a gob, black-and-white, bob, or "BFO" for Big Fat Oreo) is an American baked good that may be considered either a cookie, pie, or cake. It is made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, or sometimes pumpkin cake, with a sweet, creamy filling or frosting sandwiched between them".

The origin:

"According to food historians, Amish women would bake these desserts (known as hucklebucks at the time) and put them in farmers' lunchboxes. When farmers would find the treats in their lunch, they would shout 'Whoopie!'"

Anyway, these were DELICIOUS! and sooooo fun to make. It's really more of a cake than a cookie or a pie because its just so moist and soft!

Enjoy!

I wish my photography skills were a little bit better back then... unfortunately, the orange mat I put them on offset the peanut butter horribly, making my whoopie pies look like hilarious little cheeseburgers!

You will need:

Pie:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
4 tbsp vegetable shortening. I don't have shortening so I just used 4 tbsp of softened butter.
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk

Salty Peanut Butter Filling

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (or crunchy)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pie instructions:

Preheat oven to 190 C (375 F) degrees.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
In another bowl, beat the butter, shortening, and sugar with a mixer on low until its just combined. Then increase the speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat for two more minutes.
Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk. Beat on low until it's all mixed in. Throw in the rest of the flour and milk and beat until its well combined.
Using a tablespoon (or two... see end of cookie instructions), drop batter onto the baking sheet. Space them 2 inches apart.

Bake them for about 10 minutes. If the cakes spring back when gently pressed, you know they're ready.
Remove the cakes from oven and cool for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.
1 Tbsp of batter should make about 48 two-inch cakes or 24 pies.
2 Tbsp of batter should make about 30 four-inch cakes or 15 pies.

Filling instructions:
While the cakes are in the oven, use the mixer to beat the peanut butter and butter on low until they become smooth.
Add the sugar and salt and beat on low to incorporate them. Increase the speed to medium and beat for about four minutes until the filling become light and fluffy.
Using a spoon or a pipe (there's a "how to make a paper pipping cone" vid on my Tips and Tricks page)

Spread the filling on the flat side of a cooled cake, and then top it with a second cake. Press down gently, creating a pie sandwich.

Store whoopie pies in an airtight container.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

Labels: chocolate, peanut butter, peanut butter cups | at 9:39 PM

I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter and chocolate but I definitely respect the hell out this innovative combination of flavors... So why not pay my respects by creating the ultimate snack for all you peanut butter and chocolate lovers out there? Peanut Butter Cups!

I got this recipe from a free video I found in the iTunes store. This vlogger is a kooky guy who spends as much time filming his baking experience as he does on close ups of his dogs sitting with bunches of apples and beautiful fall leaves... it was strangely endearing.

I had a hard time with the chocolate melting procedure... I don't have the right bowl to heat up chocolate correctly, so I had to use the microwave which resulted in pretty sad looking lumpy chocolate. Next time I'll perfect it :)

You will need:

1 1/3 cups peanut butter (place it in the freezer an hour before you begin to toughen it up). I used crunchy peanut butter, which added a really nice crunch to the cups :)

2 tbsp powdered sugar

a pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp honey

2 cups chocolate chips

mini cupcake cups (I didn't have any so I made them in regular sized cups which resulted in pretty large peanut butter cups)

Mix the peanut butter, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and honey in a small bowl. Place in the refrigerator to keep cold.

Melt the chocolate chips. This can be extremely difficult, since chocolate can get easily ruined in the melting process and come out lumpy or dry. I posted a video on how to melt chocolate on my Tips and Tricks page.

Put a spoonful of chocolate into the bottom of the cup, creating a base. Scoop a small ball of the peanut butter mixture and set it on your base.

Top the peanut butter mixture with another spoonful of chocolate, covering it completely. Gently smooth the top.

Place the peanut butter cups into the freezer for approx. an hour, and they're ready to eat!

Store these in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Fully Baked

Brownie Pillow Cookies

Doughnut Muffins

The Ultimate Layered Cookie Bar

Molten Muffin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cocoa Crinkle Cookies

Combine granulated sugar and oil in large bowl. Add the cocoa, beating until well blended. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add it to cocoa mixture, beating well.

Heat the oven to 176°C (350°F). Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll the balls in powdered sugar to coat. Because mine were spooned on, I first spooned them all onto the baking sheet, and then sprinkled the powdered sugar on top. Place the balls about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies 11 to 13 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched lightly, and the tops are crackled. Cool slightly. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack and cool completely.

Cranberry Oat Scones

Whoopie Pies

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

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