Bliss in a cookie

I made these cookies for super bowl Sunday and they were a huge hit! They really are the perfect brownie cookies I have been searching for! I like that they are also pretty little cookies, with their shiny tops and mix of semi-sweet and white chocolate chips. They are perfect for when you want a dessert that is portable and pretty. Like a brownie without the crumbs.

Chocolate Bliss Cookies
(Source: The Cookie Bible)


1 package (8 squares) Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour (3/4 cups if you omit nuts)
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped Walnuts (optional, I left them out this time but next time I will definitely use them!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the semi-sweet baking squares in the microwave or on a double boiler, stirring often. Once the chocolate has melted add the sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Next add the flour and baking powder and mix well. Then add the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Drop the batter by rounded tablespoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 13-14 minutes. Cool 1 minutes then remove from baking sheet and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Honey Yeast Rolls

Yum Yum Yum! That's what I have to say about these rolls! I love a slightly sweet dinner roll and this recipe fit the bill perfectly. The only thing I think I would do differently next time is to let them rise a little bit longer. They were just a tiny bit dense. But the flavor was absolutely perfect and they even made a great breakfast for me the rest of the week! Of course I found the recipe on Amber's blog, she's pretty much my bread idol!

Honey Yeast Rolls
(Source: found on Amber's blog, originally from A Cookie a Day)

Ingredients
2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup warm water (105°-115° F)
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 cups bread flour, separated
vegetable cooking spray
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon honey

Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the yeast and warm water. Add the honey, oil, salt, and egg and mix well. Add 3 cups of the flour and mix until the dough comes together in a sticky mass. With the mixer on low speed, add the remaining 1 cup flour and mix until it is incorporated into the dough. Switch to the dough hook, and continue kneading on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in bulk, about 2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 30 seconds. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Punch the dough down and divide into 12 equal portions. Shape each portion into a ball and place into a round, lightly greased baking dish, spacing evenly. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 20 minutes. Mix together the melted butter and honey, and brush lightly over the tops of the rolls. Bake at 400° for 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm or at room temperature.

My new favorite brownie....

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe!

We are the World....

So anyone that knows me well knows that I have a small obsession with food. Especially baking (hello! I have a FOOD blog). I like to make, eat, and talk about food, a lot. So naturally when friends come over for dinner and I have a bag of undecorated sugar cookies on the counter, it's bound to come up. This time I roped Michelle and Shane into doing some decorating. One thing led to another and the next thing we know we've got the line up for "We are the World" Really, this post has no new recipe or purpose except to show off the adorable cookies we made and the fun we had. And in case you're wondering, yes, they do taste as good as they look.

8 hours in the kitchen....

1 batch of cinnamon rolls, 1 batch of homemade marshmallows and 4 kinds of cookies. That's how I spent my day today. I have been planning this day of baking for weeks and it definitely did not disappoint. I am so happy with how all my cookies came out! Rather than bore you with a play by play of my day I 'll just jump right into the recipes and pictures. (OK so really it might be because I'm exhausted and can't think of anything else to say!)

The spread:
Chocolate chip peanut butter cookies, Yule log cookies, thumbprint cookies, sugar cookies and not pictured, marshmallows.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
(Source Smitten Kitchen)



I've made this before, find the recipe here.

Yule Log Cookies
(Source: The Cookie Bible)



1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup sprinkles

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa and salt, set aside.
Beat butter and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually beat in flour mixture until well blended. Cover and chill dough at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Form dough into 1 inch balls. Shape balls into 2 inch logs about 1/2 inch thickn. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 12 minutes or until set. Let stand on cookies sheets 2 minutes; transfer to wire racks; cool completely.
Melt chocolate chips (in microwave or double boiler) Dip each end of the cookies into the white chocolate then into sprinkles. Return to wire racks and let stand until chocolate is set.




Thumbprint Cookies
(Source: Vintage Victuals)



1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour

Seedless Raspberry Preserves (I used seedless Blackberry preserves)


Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Stir in flour and, if necessary, chill until firm enough to handle. With floured hands, roll in 1” balls. Put 1 and ½ inches apart on cookie sheets. Lightly flour your thumb, and make a small indentation in center of each cookie. Fill with raspberry preserves. Bake in preheated 325 degreeoven about 15-20 minutes. Cool on racks. Makes about 4 dozen.

Sugar Cookies
(Source: My Blog :))



Recipe here


Homemade Marshmallows
(Source:Good Things Catered Blog)



Ingredients:
4 envelopes unflavored gelatin
water
3 c. granulated sugar
1 1/4 c. light corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

powdered sugar for slicing

Directions:
-In large saucepan over medium high heat, combine 3/4 c. water, sugar and corn syrup.
-Meanwhile, in bowl of stand mixer place 3/4 c. water and sprinkle gelatin on top, let plump.
-Bringing sugar mixture to boil, place candy thermometer in middle of mixture, making sure not to touch the side or bottom of the pan and let keep a rolling boil until mixture passes 235 degrees, about 3-5 minutes.
-With mixer on low, carefully pour sugar mixture into mixer bowl and slowly raise beater to high speed.
-Beat sugar mixture on high for five minutes and then add vanilla. (If you'd like to add other flavors here like peppermint, color, or cocoa powder for chocolate, add now).
-Continue beating mixture for an additional 5 minutes.
-Meanwhile, oil a 9x13 pan for large marshmallows or two 10x10 pans for small marshmallows.
-When done beating, pour sugar mixture into pan(s), smooth top and tap to release extra air.
-Leave on counter overnight to form.
-Generously sprinkle working surface with powdered sugar, turn out marshmallow mixture, generously sprinkle with powdered sugar, and cut as desired, lightly coating marshmallow shapes with powdered sugar to avoid sticking.

9x13 pan makes about 96 large marshmallows that can be stored in a container for about a week.


Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls
(Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks)

Caramel Popcorn Mix

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!!

Another cake for work...

We had another birthday at work! this means another opportunity for me to make a cake. This time the request for a simple white cake with raspberry filling. I'm sure you remember the Daring Baker's challenge when I made Dorie's perfect party cake, which was also a raspberry filled white cake, but I wanted to try a new recipe. The recipe I choose is another great find from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. The cake turned out light and airy, yet moist and still flavorful. I just used the Wilton recipe for butter cream frosting. To make the raspberry filling I mixed equal parts raspberry preserves and butter cream frosting. The filling looked a little less red and a little more brownish (probably due to my all natural preserves) so I added 2 drops of red food coloring. Sadly I did not get a picture of the inside of the cake. Maybe next time!

Classic White Cake
(Source: Culinary Concoctions by Peabody)

White Cake
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
6 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter (6 oz), softened

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease two 9 inch cake pans with vegetable shortening, line the bottom with parchment paper, grease the parchment paper and flour the pans.
Combine milk, eggs whites and extract in a small bowl with a fork. Set aside.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in an electric mixer and mix at slow speed with a paddle attachment. Add butter. Continue beating at slow speed until mixture looks like wet sand (If you’re doing this by hand, sift the dry ingredients together and rub in butter).
Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining milk mixture and beat for an additional 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary. Do not overmix.
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and gently shake to smooth batter. Bake 30-35 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes then invert onto racks to cool completely before frosting. Unfrosted cakes can be frozen for 1-2 weeks.
Serves 12-16.

Adapted from Baking Bites.com