Xtra Large Cookies and Valentine's Day

Yes, we are a little late here with our Valentine's day post. Of course neither Mike nor I are huge V-Day people. No reason to not love each other 364 days and only celebrate it only on 1 day out of the year.

I bought Mike a movie he likes, "Looper," and he bought me a cup from his Alma mater. I really like it and it's perfect for work.

So then I made cookies, Mike and I couldn't spend Valentine's day together, so we celebrated the weekend before. So the week of V-Day I made cookies, which I intended to take to work, but then I decided that I was gonna have a shark week kind of week and eat them myself over the course of a week.

Mind you, these are LARGE cookies, EXTRA LARGE cookies. Basically this is a one cookie recipe. Of course, if you wanted to make a tiny batch of cookies out of this I am quite sure you could, however, it's more fun to make these HUGE cookies and share them eat them all by yourself and not give any to your significant other. Sorry Mike, I love you :)

The ingredient lists for any of these cookies is rather simple. Basically it's a cookie recipe, depending on the type, and sized down to make one large cookie, or about 4-6 normal size cookies. But why make things small right? Bigger is better. Or at least when it comes to cookies and trucks.

I found these recipes at the darling "Sally's Baking Addiction" blog. I saw Reese's Peanut Butter Extra large cookie. I was definitely making that. If I had to eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be peanut butter.

To top the recipe off, it has Reese's pieces AND chocolate chips AND peanut butter. Uh DONE, yum. Gotta have.

So you start out mixing your wet ingredients, butter and sugars and peanut butter. Cream those and then start adding your egg,  salt, baking soda, vanilla, and then flour. Once you have that mixed fold in your chocolate chips and Reese's.

You should then have this lovely, thick cookie dough. YUM! I could quite honestly eat this by itself. Of course between Mike and I we could put away cookie dough by itself.

You then have this lovely delicious, moist and yet crunchy cookie. This is literally the size of my entire hand. It's MASSIVE! And I totally ate this by myself, over a couple of days. 

Of course from this recipe comes XXL Death by Chocolate cookie (perfect for that shark week craving).

Also can make a Buttery Soft Sugar Cookie, which quite honestly I didn't care for on it's own, so I cut it out with a heart cookie cutter and frosted it and then wrote "XO" in honor of V-Day. Of course I noticed that I actually had red food coloring AFTER I made the frosting blue and then purple.

Of course with sugar cookies come snicker doodles. Which rolling this dough in cinnamon sugar is impossible. I also think my sugar and snicker doodle dough's weren't thick enough. I may have to try adding at least 1 - 2 Tbsp more flour to help with that.

 So, I"m sure you're wanting the recipes now. Well I will give you the Reese's Giant cookie recipe, the rest you can find sugar here and snicker doodle  here and death by chocolate here.

The XXL Death By Chocolate and the Giant Reese's Peanut Butter Cookie's are my favorites.

1 Giant Reese's Peanut Butter Cookie

Makes one (1) GIANT cookie

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp beaten egg (crack and egg and beat it, use 2 Tbsp - or use egg beaters)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter (I used Walmart's Natural creamy)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup Reese's Pieces
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray or line with a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mixing until well combined. Stir in peanut butter, then add flour, baking soda, and salt. Fold in Reese's Pieces and chocolate chips until combined. With a large spoon, scoop into a ball onto prepared baking sheet. The dough will be sticky. Make sure the cookie dough ball is tall and round. You can top with a few extra Reese's Pieces before baking.

Bake for 17-19 minutes, until edges are lightly browned. The center may appear undone, but it will set as the cookie cools. Let cool ON the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Enjoy.

Of course using this base you can always change it to match what you're craving. Use your imagination and taste buds to figure out what flavor combinations would work.

Go out and cook!

Gone Bananas

Hi there,

Hope you all have enjoyed the writings of Mike, I know I have, nice to sit back and let someone else take the reins. I sat and watched TV and sipped at my water while he typed away about the duck. Very pleasant.

So, having spent a weekend away from home I of course tend to get bored by myself. Having Mike and roomie off at work gave me plenty of time to mull about and do my own thing at my home away from home.

I of course had found this fabulous Banana Caramel Whoopie pie recipe the week prior and just really wanted to make them. So, knowing what ingredients were kept at Mike's place I figured I could at least try them out and make them. If anything Mike and roomie could take them to work if they didn't like them.

Of course before I even started baking I needed to do some research. What do they have baking supplies wise? Being that Roomie and Mike do not bake, well, OK, they bake but I call it cheating. Roomie does the baking usually and usually that involves some kind of boxed mix, bagged muffin, or pre-made version of a baked good. Yes, I call that cheating. It's fast and easy and they taste good but I can honestly tell you that my caramel sauce doesn't have nearly as many ingredients as the one you just bought at the store for your ice cream. You know who you are! -_-

Yes, I just called all of you out on buying foods that you can easily make. I do understand the convenience aspect or the quickness. If you're like Roomie, you really don't have a lot of time to just kick back and bake like I do. To complete these whoopie pies plus clean up was 3 hours. I know neither of them would take that time to make whoopie pies.

But I digress. So I looked through all the cabinets and jars and spices to see what I would need. Ultimately I had myself a little list. Flour, sugar, bananas, baking soda, heavy cream, sour cream and trail mix (the trail mix was to nibble on while I baked).

So I returned happily with my bag of goodies, ready and willing to bake. Of course then I needed to wait until Roomie went to work. I just don't care for baking while others are also trying to use the kitchen. If you're helping me that is one thing but otherwise, get out of my way.

Of course when I returned from Wal-Mart with a bag of goodies, I popped out this huge bunch of bananas, upon which I was told later, after explaining, please help yourself and I will take some with me, "she bought a HUGE bunch of bananas." I was not expecting either of them to actually eat all those bananas, I planned to take some home as I too eat a banana every day like Roomie does. So in the end I went home with three while about 4 of the 8 bananas had been eaten. Complaints? I think not ;)

 So, moving forward with these delicious delicacies. I adore whoopie pies, as my mother and father are from New York and whoopie pies are predominately an East Coast item. I remember making classic whoopie pies as a child with my brother and having my mom tell us, "OK, match up the cookies to make pies." So we would match the halves that fit best and mom would pipe in the delicious filling and each of us would scarf them down as we ran to play outside.

In any event I thought the banana and caramel aspects of these were fascinating and potentially delicious. So after everyone had left me to my own devices, I had worked my tushie off doing the Insanity workout and had showered I promptly began my quest for banana caramel goodness. (and yes, I say it CARE-A-MEL, not CAR-MAL. I'm fancy like that.)

I soon found myself splattered with batter and filling. The batter was easy and the two ingredients that surprised me were the sour cream and heavy cream. But in the end it worked fabulously.

I struggled with the filling, however, but I believe that is due to having to use a hand mixer to create stiff peaks with egg whites and sugar. My arms were about to fall off. At home I have a beautiful kitchen aid stand mixer which I can just turn on and walk away and let it do all the hard work. I now appreciate my grandmother and her mother before. Salute to the great women of the depression and their lack of kitchen aids.

So I had to fix the filling, that soon became loose and gooey, by adding 1 lb (1 box) of powdered sugar, which still did not thicken the filling enough to my liking. So I matched up cookies and filled them anyway and promptly put them in the fridge to chill and set.

You know you have a good recipe on your hands when the following happened.

I fell asleep on the couch since Mike said he would try to be home around 1:30 AM from work. Well, I feel asleep on the couch after my 3 hour baking adventure that ended around 11 so about 12:30 AM/1:00 AM I was sound asleep when he arrived. He soon plopped himself on the couch with some Taco Bell and I was now in the upright position trying to be someone cognisant of what was going on. He soon went to the fridge and tried one of the little guys. He was mm-ing and yumming his way back to the couch and when he goes back to the fridge he says "Damn you" and promptly eats another. Definitely good.

The next day Roomie tried one and was equally happy with how they turned out.

 Cute no?

So here is the recipe, I got the recipe from Indigo Scones who got it from Annie's Eats.

Here is the recipe (with my alterations and notes)

Caramel Banana Whoopie Pies
Says 30-36 sandwiches -- depends really on how big you make them

Ingredients for caramel sauce:

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (recipe called for 1/2 vanilla bean split and scraped but yeah, I'm not buying vanilla beans)
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp coarse salt (I used sea salt, as I wasn't going to buy more salt)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for the cookies

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 - 1 1/2 bananas) **psst - I used 3
• 1/2 cup sour cream (don't skimp, just use regular)
• 8 Tbsp (1 stick or 1/2 cup) butter, unsalted and at room temperature (I used blue bonnet regular - it's a favorite of mine for baking and works just fine)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg (brought mine to room temp)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for filling***

• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 16 Tbsp (2 sticks or 1 cup) butter, unsalted and room temperature cut into 1 tbsp pats
• 1/2 cup caramel sauce (pretty much what the caramel sauce recipe makes), cooled

***This will make more filling/frosting than you actually need. I had about 1 cup left over. Just freeze it and save for some other naughty use.

----------> Sarah Disclaimer: Since I had issues with my filling and added powdered sugar to thicken and tighten up my filling I had about 2 1/2 cups left over, which I froze and left sitting in Mike's freezer. Enjoy honey. So depending on what you end up doing you may have more than planned.

Directions:To make the caramel sauce, (this is not as intimidating as it may seem, just follow instructions and follow the "oops" fixers that are in there too and have some patience, it will turn out lovely.) measure out your cream into a microwavable measuring cup or dish.  Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into it (if using) and heat in the microwave until warm.  Spread the sugar in an even layer over the bottom of a large, deep, sturdy saucepan.  Place over medium heat, watching carefully.  When the sugar begins to liquefy around the edges, use a heatproof spatula to gently stir it towards the center.  Continue stirring very gently until all the sugar is melted, taking care not to over stir the sugar into hard chunks.  If this happens, reduce the heat and try to melt the chunks without stirring.  Once the liquefied caramel reaches a deep amber color, immediately remove the saucepan from the heat (to test the color, spoon a drop onto a white plate or bowl).

Carefully whisk in half of the warmed heavy cream/vanilla bean mixture. The mixture will steam and bubble violently, be careful.  Whisk until the cream is well incorporated, then whisk in the remaining cream.  Whisk in the salt and the vanilla.  If any sugar has hardened (seized), place the saucepan over medium-low heat and whisk until smooth.  Allow to cool. (This sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and reheated.)
To make the cookies, (cookies are easy, of course mine included an extra bit of banana, since Mike likes real tangible and taste-able banana flavor, as do I). preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. (This my friends is critical if you do not want your cookies to spread into giant discs on your tray. If you do not use wax paper or parchment paper you will have really thin and large cookies to fill instead of nicely puffed small cookies. Trust me on this, I tried for you.) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend, and set aside.  In a small bowl, combine the mashed banana and sour cream.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Blend in the egg and vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the banana mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Mix each addition until just incorporated. 
Pipe the batter using a plain round tip (or use a zip-lock back with the corner cut off) onto the prepared baking sheets into about 1¼-inch rounds, spacing a couple of inches apart.  Bake until the cookies are just set and the bottom edges are starting to brown, about 10-12 minutes.  Let cool on the baking sheets 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the filling, combine the egg whites and sugar in a large heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.  Heat the mixture, whisking very frequently, until the sugar is completely dissolved and reaches 160° F on an instant read thermometer (Or until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is hot to the touch; when you pinch some of the mixture between your fingers it should feel smooth and very warm.).  Transfer the mixture to the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture holds stiff peaks.  Reduce the speed to medium low, add in the salt and then begin adding the butter one piece at a time, beating well after each addition (If your butter became too soft, your mixture may become soupy and curdle-y in appearance.  No fear!  Just keep mixing, it will eventually come together.) (Can't say mine eventually came together, it just stayed loose and thin, I also didn't have any more patience to hold my arm up while mixing with the electric hand mixer. If you have a hand mixer maybe you should find someone to help tag team the filling so it gets to the right consistency, or if you have a stand mixer, turn on and walk away until your egg whites are nice and stiff peaked. Unlike me. Learn from my mistakes y'all!).  Stir in ½ cup of the cooled caramel sauce until well blended.

Once the cookies are completely cooled, match them up in pairs by size.  Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the caramel filling.  Pipe a dollop of filling onto the flat side of one cookie of each pair, and sandwich the cookies together, pushing the filling to the edges.  Store in an airtight container.

So, all in all a success. I just love love love the banana cookie part. I am replacing my mother's banana bread recipe with this. I know, blasphemous but if you find something more delicious, why use something that isn't as superior? Sorry mom, love you still but I found a better recipe.

Buttered Rum --- um, YUM!

How did everyone like the Misters post? Mike, I think did a wonderful job. Maybe he'll do more posts in the near future.

So another weekend has come and gone, (and this week is almost over, phew) and what did I do? Bake of course. I was home by myself this weekend (minus the day I spent at my parents place with my aunt). So what did I bake you may be asking, as I'm sure me hanging out with my aunt to pick up the "Insanity" workout is probably not that fascinating. I think it was fun and a good time. I rarely get to see this aunt so it's always nice to hang out. (Dad's side of the family, very much my dad's sister). I so very much love my Aunt Judy. She's a superstar and a healthy lady to boot.

So Buttermilk, I refuse to go to the store and buy buttermilk that will end up going bad in my fridge because I forget about it and only use a little bit. So I opt to make my own substitute. I take 1 tbsp of vinegar (in this case apple cider though I generally opt for white - having just ran out of white vinegar due to a bad potato bag incident where I needed a stronger - more natural cleaner to get the smell out of my kitchen. Note: rotten potatoes reek and make a mess on your counter. Be warned.) So 1 tbsp vinegar and then add to the 1 cup line enough milk to make 1 cup total. So you're not using 1 cup of milk, it's 1 cup minus a 1 tbsp milk and 1 tbsp vinegar. So then let it sit for about 5 minutes to really become buttermilky (is that even a word - spell check is saying no).

So at this point it's time to start making cake. I tried to bring all ingredients to room temperature so they would be easier to work with as well as bake better. I'm finding this is the best idea but ultimately sometimes you just want to bake, RIGHT NOW, and just can't wait for ingredients to "thaw". That's when I zap the butter for a few seconds in the microwave to soften and put eggs in last and if hot ingredients go in with the eggs I temper them so they don't curdle. It's the little things.

So I added all the necessary ingredients and of course I used real rum (Bacardi if you can see from the first picture) in the batter because it would bake off, more or less. (I was taking this to my mothers' church event mind you, with children.) So I decided to use rum extract for the buttered rum glaze.

Not having a pretty bundt pan like the blog I found this recipe from (here) I used my angel food pan. It's a tube pan, yes, it has a hole in the middle, yes. OK, same difference, yes? Yes :) It turned out quite lovely if I do say so myself.

How gorgeous is that!? No it's not pretty like a bundt cake but man it looked amazing.

Now for the glaze. Glazes amaze me at how simple they are. Usually combined with powdered sugar and some liquid or sugar and liquid boiled together in a sauce pan. SIMPLE! I love simple and easy recipes. That just goes to show you that recipes aren't as hard as they seem sometimes. Just take a minute to read it through and find out.

So this glaze was rum extract, sugar and butter. Oh how I love butter - I avoid it usually when eating but for baking, it it essential. I will sometimes use real butter - unfortunately with the cost currently and me not actually selling these baked goods, I use Blue Bonnet Regular. Seems to do the job just fine - though I have made my mothers cookies with real butter for Christmas and may I just say - cookies taste about 100x better with real butter. So I'm sure cake would too :)

So here we have the glaze, lumpy butter and then it melts down into a sugary rum glaze. I could eat just this, turn it into a candy and nibble away. But I won't because it's for the cake, which I soon realized it was A LOT of glaze for one cake. Though I believe in not wasting something or having to have it left over in my kitchen, or I'll eat it and lose my feminine physique from overdoing the sweets. I work hard to be able to splurge on occasion :)

So in the end I ended up spooning the glaze over the top of the cake, after poking numerous fork holds into the top with a long tine fork.

And this is what a slice looks like.

As you can see the glaze made it about 1/4 of the way down the cake. It was all still warm, cake and glaze, when I added. I really only at the top and sides of my slice but it was delicious none the less. It was a hit at the church too as I went home with only 2 slices left. Makes my day when people enjoy the goodies.

Buttermilk Rum Pound Cake:
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 tsp rum extract (or Rum)
4 eggs
3 cups plain flour (all purpose)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk (or see substitution above)

Directions:
1. Combine butter and sugar, beat well.
2. Add flavorings and eggs, blend well.
3. Add flour and all remaining ingredients, blend at low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed.
4. Pour batter into greased and floured 10-inch tube pan.
5. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean from center.
6. Invert cake onto serving plate to cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or use butter rum sauce.

Butter Rum Sauce
Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter + 3 Tbsp
1 1/2 tsp rum extract (or rum)

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients
2. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until butter melts. DO NOT BOIL
3. With long-tined fork, pierce cake 10-12 times.
4. Slowly pour hot sauce over warm cake.

*Notes: I used unflavored dental floss to cut my cake - it's cleaner and doesn't shred the cake like knives can. Try it - double dog dare you!

I also did the following over the weekend.

Faux Ice Cream Balls

Faux Ice Cream Balls inside

Faux Ice Cream Balls (as I call them), I mixed some funfetti fake bake mix (yes that box of mix normal people buy) and the can of frosting together (it was probably about 1 1/2 cups of mix and 3/4 of the jar of frosting). I mixed until thick and could be formed into little balls. Then covered them in chocolate almond bark. So due to my impatience for the chocolate to harden I stuck them in the freezer and promptly forgot they were there until getting ice later that night. So I tried one and to my amazement they taste kind of like those ice cream nibs (you know the ice cream bites dipped in chocolate and are poppable, yeah those!) but home made and you can make them as big or as small as you like. Oh so dangerously delicious and so very simple. GO, DO, MAKE!

Rainbow Cake

I also like to make rainbow cake, this is diet 7-UP rainbow cake. 12 oz can of diet 7-UP, 1pkg lemon cake mix. Mix soda and mix. Separate into 6 bowls, add colors and layer in ROYGBIV style. Bake at recommended time and temp according to pan and viola! You have super moist and lower cal cake. Add a lemon glaze or whipped cream for a sweet treat that doesn't break the calorie bank. Delicious and simple yet again. So good :)

So as Mike has told you, I've helped him eat healthier and start using Myfitnesspal.com. Super helpful site, I use it on my phone all the time to track EVERYTHING I eat and do. And now I'm doing the insanity workout - yes, I am insane. ;) So if the baking trails off, it's because I'm laying on my living room floor panting for air and trying not to die. Wish me luck.

Now, go out and cook!

Fabulous Friday

Do you know why it is a fabulous Friday? Hmm? Take a guess :)

Because it is actually under 90 degrees here in the Mid-West for a change. It's actually only 82 degrees currently. WOO HOO! Perfect day for a run after work and for a walk at my lunch break.

On lunch I took a walk outside rather than at the mall I typically frequent as it was actually decent. Of course because it's not over 90 degrees I am not allowed to wear shorts to work - even though everyone did anyway. So I'm wearing dark wash blue jeans, but I don't care. I chose to walk the pond near my office and get some vitamin D. My mom called so I chatted for a good portion of that walk. Normally I can only walk for about 40 minutes before having to drive back to work but today I got in a good 54 minutes. To top it off I was able to enjoy the sun and breeze and wild life.

Hello Mr. Mallard.
Your winter feathers have not come in

 I only know about the feathers because Mike is the smart one when it comes to ducks, since he hunts them in the fall :) YAY for duck season!

Sorry Daffy, I have to go with Bugs here.

So enjoying the gorgeous day out and getting some really great texts today it's been pretty good. After work I get a workout plan from a friend who is a trainer and then I get to go run and have some girl time with a new friend, my neighbor. K should be fun to be friends with. We shall see.

In any event I have experimented a teeny bit and have found a lovely Brown Sugar Cupcake Recipe since I went and made Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting and had nothing to frost.

I just want to lick the beater.

So I was scanning through the usual food blogs when I came across this fun and amusing blog "How Sweet it is"

Yummy

These little gems turned out great. Tasted delish too. I don't typically have cupcake papers on hand since I'm a cheap ass and tend to just spray the pan. So the combination of having a gas oven and having silicone for a muffin pan the edges on my cupcakes came out a bit on the more crisp side, but it was a good contrast to the fluffy and moist inside. YUMMM!!

The frosting was simple and more experimental than anything. I just didn't feel like baking so I made frosting and of course not knowing what I was going to frost with it. Cookies, nah, that means sugar usually and I don't want to cut out cookies - I really have to be in the mood for that. So next question was cupcakes or actual cake. Since cupcakes are portable, single serve and much easier to take to work and give to co-workers I opted for find a cupcake that could carry the fluffiness of Chocolate and Peanut Butter.

Yes this frosting was just absolutely fluffy and delicious. I had a few heaping spoonfuls - which I really shouldn't have but it just tasted so darn good!

Frosting to me is just the easiest thing to make. Leave out some butter and have powdered/confectioners sugar handy. From there you just add the flavors you want.

For this recipe I took a stick of softened butter, a good blob (no I did not measure, I rarely do for frosting) of creamy peanut butter then mixed on medium until mixed well. Then I added some vanilla extract (again people, I didn't measure. I just kind of go - bloop! good enough. Baking this long you can kind of tell how much each pour is. This non measuring thing gets worse the older I get). Then I added some melted chocolate I had left over from the peanut butter cups I made recently, about 1 square, maybe 2 of the chocolate almond bark.

Super simple recipe here

Mix all ingredients together then start adding the powdered sugar, S-L-O-W-L-Y! Otherwise you WILL end up with a kitchen covered in powdered sugar, as well as you. I have done it in a rush attempt to get things done and it just isn't worth the clean up, well unless you have a helper. Then maybe. Powdered sugar in the air also seems to have the properties of laughing gas. Having worked in the Costco bakery for a year, we had one incident where we were making a lot of frosting for the cakes that day and using an insane amount of powdered sugar. I think this was during the graduation rush and there was indeed a lot of it in the air, we were inhaling it at that point. However, at one moment our boss walked in, all employees are laughing and giggling about one thing or another - I can't recall what we found funny but I remember having a great day at work that day - he just looked and asked what was funny. Of course when you are already laughing, a serious question such as "what's so funny?" just makes you laugh harder. Ahh, good times. But I digress.

Once you have incorporated the powdered sugar start to whip it, whip it good! You know you're singing that song in your head now. You are welcome - I did have a publisher tell that group of us to "Dance" today (of course it was in reference to an ad called "Dance" but, whatever).

So now that you have whipped your frosting into a delicious frenzy set it aside or even place in the fridge for just a bit. Note: if your frosting is too thick add a Tbsp at a time of water or milk to thin out until it reaches the desired consistency.

Now, for the cupcakes.

Brown Sugar Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled (I used Blue Bonnet margarine and it turned out just fine)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt, stirring to mix. Set aside. Line a cupcake tin with liners.

In a large bowl, whisk brown sugar and egg until smooth. Add in vanilla extract and milk, again mixing until combined. Slowly pour in melted butter, continuing to whisk. Add in the flour, soda, and salt. Mix with a large spoon until batter is smooth.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, add batter to liners. Bake for 16-19 minutes or until tops are puffy and golden, and don't jiggle when touched. Let cool completely before frosting.

Of course you can frost this cupcake with virtually any frosting you like and decorate accordingly. This is a good all purpose cupcake and great for when you run out of white sugar, like I have on occasion. It's quite disappointing to start a recipe and pull the sugar container down only to find no sugar. Granted you can substitute brown sugar cup for cup should you run out of white sugar, just note brown sugar has molasses in it, making it a bit stickier in the baked good. Sometime caramelizing the edges.


I also made this loveliness this week. Banana bread with chocolate shavings and cinnamon sugar crust. Can I just say that this thing made my house smell like home, that homey smell that all candle companies try to make their product smell like but can't quite capture the essence. Sugar, cinnamon and banana. Umph, perfect smell combo. Should be a perfume - men would come running, just add in a side of bacon and we are good!

Sliced fresh. Yes it's a teeny bit gooey,
but I like it that way and so does Mike

A pat of butter on the warm fresh bread, now we're talking!

 This is just a classic recipe for banana bread, I then took my cheese grater and milk chocolate block and shaved about 2 ounces of chocolate into the batter and mixed. I then combined about a heaping 1/8 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp cinnamon to dust on top (which I did AFTER I baked, it was an after thought but it worked out just fine since the bread was smoldering hot, ouch!)

Here's to the weekend, I get my Insanity DVDs tomorrow, I celebrate a friends 31st birthday and then headed out to Mike's to hang out for the remainder of the weekend. Sounds good to me.

Every great inspiration is but an experiment - Charles Ives

It was experiment week in the kitchen. Throwing things together and being bored and missing Mike while he has been out of town.

So between the crazy baking spree I recently went on with beer bread and peanut butter balls I have now made more sugar cookies. Regular this time - well I used rum extract since I'm out of vanilla. Can't really tell when you eat them though. It works.

I made the frosting first, not knowing what I was going to use it on. Brilliant right? Who said genius had to come after the main part of a baked item was created?

So when I was bored I had powdered sugar and softened butter. I then realized, after combining ingredients that I was out of vanilla...well I didn't want to do rum frosting. I just made rum cupcakes not too long ago. I didn't want to do coconut. A lot of people hate coconut. So I looked and found I had vodka, gummy flavored. I thought to myself, hmm I wonder if this would taste good as frosting? I enjoy the gummy vodka by itself as well as mixed in a drink but wasn't sure how it would work as a flavoring. Then again most all extracts are a flavored alcohol basically. Good extracts have alcohol in them. So...in my thinking I figured it would just come out as a gummy flavor. Well, sort of. I had to play with the ratio of vodka to sugar and butter. Added a bit of water here and there to thin out without adding a crap load of alcohol, since this is not a cooked frosting.

I think it turned out well...I added red food dye to give it a gummy kind of feel. (More pink than red - but I'm not going to add that much food coloring). I personally think it tastes more like cotton candy than gummy in frosting form. It's super sweet so just a teaspoon per cookie is enough. From what people that have tasted them for me have said, it's not sicky sweet but it's definitely a "one and done" deal for eating.


So the cookies are pretty basic. They are my mom's super awesome "Christmas Cutout Cookies."

The edges got a bit crispy but still tasty

Recipe:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Cream sugar and butter. Add egg and vanilla. Add milk. Mix well. Combine flour, salt and powder in another bowl. Add flour mixture in batches until dough comes together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out dough on floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness and cut out with desired cookie cutters.

(I chose stars for Independence day. Also a good reason for the red coloring for the frosting - I thought of that after I cut out cookies)

Bake at 350 degrees for 6-10 min (depending on your oven - mine is gas and seems to cook things a bit faster than electric ovens I have used.)

Once you set them on a rack to cool you can start making your frosting. The basic frosting I make is 1 stick of butter, 1 lb powdered sugar, a splash of vanilla and a splash of milk for consistency. Add more milk to thin out frosting to obtain a spreading consistency. If you are lactose intolerant, use water.

Once your cookies are cool, start frosting those puppies, or stars in my case.

If you are using the Gummy Vodka recipe, please note 1 TEASPOON is way more than enough frosting for these. Up to 1 1/4 tsp. But no more. If you use more it will be too sweet and in my kitchen Audrey is watching, and a lady NEVER over frosts her cookies. ;)

Audrey watches me cook and bake.
She approves of the pink color

So until next time kids - I think Mike said something about clam chowder....that will hopefully be next. Time for some real food right? 

Boredom hits the baker - prepare yourselves

So this is what happens when I, Sarah, get bored. Mike usually will ask what is wrong if I've been baking since I'm usually upset or in a mood to bake. There are times I bake for a reason but typically there are a few things that trigger a bit of a worry. The movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and random baking.

So this and last week I've been bored and I have also had to bake for a co-worker.

So a couple nights ago I made sugar cookies, of course I had run out of sugar. Great...didn't want to go to the store so I subbed brown sugar (light) for the white sugar. A little experimentation never hurt. These type of sugar cookies are meant to be chilled and cut out. I didn't care to go through that process (I do that once a year at Christmas time). So I just did drop sugar cookies.

As you can see I frosted them with a chocolate frosting. What you cannot see is that it is not just chocolate. It is a mocha frosting. I made a standard butter cream with cocoa powder to make it chocolaty and then added a little bit of instant coffee (I use Starbucks via, Colombian blend, since I have a crap load in my cupboard from working there for a year).

Here is the recipe:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, soft
1 cup sugar, white or light brown
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp milk

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder. Blend thoroughly. Chill in fridge for 1 hour. (or just drop by tablespoons on a greased baking sheet)

Once chilled roll out on floured surface with a floured rolling pin, to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out into desired shapes. Bake on greased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

OK, so there are those, I took them to work and left them on the coffee maker (our water cooler). I get to work at 8, these were gone by 9 and I had a note in the container asking for the recipe. Glad people enjoy them :)

So tonight I'm bored and a bit on the meh side so I came home, worked out and then proceeded to bake while NCIS is playing in the background. Aren't I exciting on a Monday night?

So I was looking through one of my cookbooks and found a "Peanut Butter Ball" recipe. Basically a buckeye for those that are familiar with those. Or as my co-worker Mai says "Peanut butter balls of death!"
Due to the sugar content. ;) At least the other recipe I used. This one doesn't make as many. About 30 balls.

This recipe comes from the "Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook 12th Edition."

Start to finish, according to the book, is 1 hour. However, if you have to run out to get ingredients to finish these "Peanut Butter Balls of Death" and beer bread, it's more like 2 hours.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup peanut butter of your choice
3 Tbsp butter, soft
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
8 oz chocolate flavored candy coating (chocolate chips work too)

1. In a bowl stir together PB and butter. Gradually add powdered sugar, stirring until combined. Shape mixture into 1 inch balls; place on waxed paper (tin foil is what I used because I don't have waxed paper right now). Let stand for 20 minutes.

Sent this pic to Mike and all he said was "Yum"
He is visiting his parents for the week so no baked goodies for him 

2. In a heavy saucepan, melt candy coating over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Cool slightly. Dip balls, one at a time, into coating. Let excess drip off (use a fork, it's easier). Place balls on waxed paper. Let stand until firm. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

I sent this pic to Mike and he immediately started making jokes ;)

(per piece 92 calories, 6g fat. 32mg sodium, 9g carbs, 0g fiber, 1g protein)

Delicious, simple and super easy. Great for kids to help with if you want to bake/cook with your kids.

OK final thing I baked tonight/this week - so far.

Beer bread. I have, for whatever reason, an over abundance of beer in my fridge. People would bring it over and I already have beer and it just keeps coming. Ugh, I drink beer but not that much and Mike hates beer. Great mix there right? So let's make beer bread :)

Super simple recipe that my mother passed to me.

3 cups flour, sifted
3 tsp baking powder, sifted
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar, again I used brown because I'm cheap and haven't bought white sugar yet.
1/4 cup melted butter
1 - 12oz - can/bottle of beer (darker beer makes tastier bread)

Oven at 375 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients, sift flour. Add beer. Put in loaf pan. Pour butter on top for a crunchy crust or mix into batter for a softer crust.
Bake for 1 hour.
Cool for 15 minutes before turning out of pan.

I double this recipe and use a 9x13 pan sprayed really really well with PAM/Non stick spray. I also have an abundance of beer. So if you have beer and are trying to get rid of it, here you go. Quick, easy and soooo tasty!!

Mixing, using Bud Select - not a lot of flavor

Baked up :) I put butter in and on it, so tasty
- do it!!!

Perfect snack or breakfast or sandwich bread
- if you use a loaf style pan

So I have had a productive night I would say, I even made myself some dinner, yes I too cook - not just bake. Mike does a lot because I say he's better at it than I am. I like to cook too though.

Red, yellow and orange peppers, onion, garlic
 and sweet and smokey, I then added tomato
sauce and made it a BBQ style with the shrimp

Peeled and deveined shrimp and tails popped off

So busy night but productive. Now I think it's bed time for my burnt raccoon self. (I spent 6 hours in the pool outside in the 99 degree heat at a friends yesterday, Sunday) Guess I didn't put enough lotion on. It was hot but the water felt good. 


There will be more food this weekend with my grandmother coming to town. 75 yr old German lady cooking at my mothers huge kitchen. Yeah, there will be food! Get ready to loosen your belt Mike. 

Mike and the Hyvee guy say it's not so bad
You can just see the red arms and red face