Snow Day!!

It snowed up here a few days before Thanksgiving. I was instantly transformed into a six year old kid again, and it was fabulous!

All my childhood memories came rushing back to me-spending Christmas break applying fake blue nails and watching Twister, only to lose a fake nail in the snow later that day. I remembered playing until long past the point my ice cold fingers would have wanted, only to rush home and dunk them in steaming hot water (which, by the way, I totally don't recommend!).

Just thought I'd share some pictures for those of you still enduring 80+ degree days!

The first day it snowed, it wasn't very sticky, so instead of a snowman I went with a snow angel.

Poor Arizona Freddy the Focus was coooold.

Snowy tree!

Front yard blanketed in snow.

It was cold. Like 22 degrees cold. Snow brings out the Arizona cold weather whiner in me rather quickly, though. Don't get me wrong, I've pretty much been cold here since mid-August. Even at the of July I wore a sweater all day with my shorts and sandals. But give it about 5 minutes of solid snow play and I'm ready to go inside and just look at it through the window. I told my mom the other day that I wanted it to snow again cause I wanted to play in it some more. But then I added that I didn't want to drive in it...or be cold. Something tells me that won't be happening!

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

I officially consider it Christmas cookie time. And since I first made these 5 years ago, they've been my go to Christmas cookie ever since.

I literally remember where I was standing when I copied down the recipe. Is that weird? Hey, at least I don't remember what I was wearing...

These cookies are just so fudgy and fantastic. They come out in perfect circles, and I love the textural and taste differences with the soft chocolate and crunchy peppermint. Trust me, you need to throw these on your cookie tray this year-you'll thank me.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
From Martha Stewart

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 oz. milk chocolate
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
3 eggs
35 crushed peppermint candies, divided


In a small bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Melt together chocolate and butter in a large bowl placed over a pan of simmering water. Remove bowl from over pan and add sugar and extracts. Allow to cool, then mix in eggs one at a time. Slowly add in flour mixture. Stir in 15 crushed peppermint candies. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes, or as long as overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Roll dough into circles, and dip tops in remaining crushed peppermint candies. Place cookies on lined/greased baking sheets, and bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool, and enjoy!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cake

This year was my first Thanksgiving in Washington since 1999. Nuts. And, to top it off, it snowed ALOT two days before Thanksgiving so if was white, cold and gorgeous!

Both sides of my family were doing dinners that day, about an hour apart from each other. I was supposed to bring dessert to both, but unfortunately it didn't pan out. With the snow and the treacherous roads (and my complete lack of prior snow driving experience!), I wasn't able to make it out to my second celebration for dessert. So we got double goodies at the first dinner.

I made a pumpkin cheesecake, and for the first time in all my cheesecake making attempts, I mastered it. There was one tiny 1 1/2 crack near one side, and that was IT! No giant crevices mussing up the perfect creamy landscape. Sadly...I didn't get a picture! But it was glorious, to say the least.

Even though in the end, things didn't work out for my second family celebration, my dessert was still prepared, so I can at least share it here! Since I was put in charge on both sides, and since I hate  pumpkin pie, I simply chose to avoid it. So instead I made a four-layer pumpkin spice cake smothered in cream cheese frosting. Oh yeah, baby...

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cake

Pumpkin Cake
From Martha Stewart

2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, room temperature
2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together dry ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and eggs until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each. Mix in pumpkin and vanilla. Slowly add 1/3 of the flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk until combined.

Divide batter between two greased and floured 8 in. pans. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool in pans for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge to loosen cakes, and invert onto cooling rack until room temperature.


Cream Cheese Frosting
From Paula Deen

2 pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar (more may be necessary)

Combine cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add vanilla, and slowly add in powdered sugar one cup at a time. Once all powdered sugar has been added, you may need to assess the consistency and add more until the frosting begins to hold its shape-you don't want it dripping all off your cake!

To assemble, begin by cutting both cakes in half. Place bottom layer on a plate, and cover with 1/4 in. frosting. Place next cake layer on top, and repeat until all layers are assembled. Cover the cake in a thin layer to keep all the crumbs in place. After the crumb coat is in place, you can frost the cake to your desired thickness, without the mess of getting orange cake crumbs all over your finished product-magical!

I even used my special garage sale steal heart shaped Wilton pans to make this cake a little more special. Unfortunately I came home to find that pieces of this cake were literally just being shaved off, rather than figuring out the best way to cut even slices, haha. It looked cute in the beginning, though!

Cinnamon Pumpkin Hot Mess

Yep. That's what I made this week. I decided to go with something non-cookie this week, as cookies aren't actually a binding part of this exercise, simply a fun name. We're encouraged to make really anything we'd use as treats this holiday season. Easy peasy.

I was really successful last week with my Girl Scout copycat cookies. This week, was a complete disaster. I really wanted to make pumpkin cinnamon rolls to take somewhere tonight. So I made my dough...at 3:30. Then I let it rise for all of 45 minutes out of impatience. I rolled it out, filled it, rolled it back up, sliced it, and set it in the pan to rise...which lasted the amount of time it took for my oven to heat up. I was completely unprepared timewise to make these, so I should have gone with my back up plan-a cranberry walnut tart. But instead, I simply half-assed Plan A.

Dumb idea. My rolls were doughy, cooked longer than suggested, then I had to cut them all apart and cook this longer on cookie trays to cook it all. And it still didn't work. They're likely dense and doughy and disgusting-the three d's I try to avoid.

I'm even refusing to post the recipe on my blog, because I wasn't patient enough to do things correctly. Instead, I'll pass you along to the man who knows how to do it the right way. (Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Buns)-Listen to him, follow his directions, and you'll have delicious fall rolls. Don't follow me. Major. Fail.


P.S. I failed even more by getting all the way to Starbucks last night to load my pictures and write my post. Got all the way there with camera and laptop in tow, but couldn't find my camera cord I spent 5 minutes finding. Wrote my post, and then left without publishing it, only to find my camera cord in my pocket the whole time. Boy oh boy, I'm losing it. So posting this and adding pictures later. Or, better yet, just check out the original pictures since I took mine on the platter in my car in the Starbucks parking lot. Yep, just keeps getting better and better, I know!

Who needs Girl Scouts?

Finally, I'm on top of things this week!!

Tonight is the monthly women's group get together at my church and we're all bringing food and recipes. So I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and bring cookies! So I sorta fudged my own rule of only making cookies I've never made before. I hate bringing things to a potluck if I've never made them before because I'm pretty critical of my baking. So, while I've never made these in cookie form before, I have made them as bar cookies before. Medium cheat, but what are ya gunna do?

I made Samoas! These are my absolute favorite Girl Scout cookies. They turn out chewier than the originals, but equally delicious.

Samoas Girl Scout CookiesFrom Baking Bites

Cookies
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Cream together butter and sugar. Slowly mix in flour, baking powder and salt. Add vanilla and slowly add milk until the dough comes together-you may not need all the milk. Roll your dough out to 1/4 inch on a floured surface, and you may need to add flour to keep dough from sticking. Cut into desired shape and place on lined/greased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies are slightly browned.

*On a side note-as legit as the cookies look with the center cut out, it's a total hassle when adding the topping, so if you don't mind the difference, just go with a circle!


Topping
3 cups shredded coconut
12 oz. chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp milk
8 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Spread shredded coconut on a cookie tray. Toast for 10-12 minutes, strirring every three minutes. Let cool.
Unwrap caramels and place in a microwaveable bowl. Add milk and salt; microwave for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Fold in coconut. Spread topping onto cooled cookies.
After all your cookies are topped, melt chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring frequently to prevent it from burning. Dip the bottom of the cookies into the chocolate. Place the remaining chocolate in a plastic bag, snip off a corner, and drizzle across tops of cookies. Eat one. Or two. Or 12.

Tutu Love

I made another tutu recently for my cousins daughter's 3rd birthday. I had an idea of a fun group of colors, and it turned out EXACTLY how I imagined.

I went with turquoise, magenta, and yellow (or T, M, and Y from here on out). They were so fun and girly together! Because my last tutus were sort of a free for all, and I used two base colors with an occasional third color added in, I wasn't sure how to structure this tutu. Did I want a TM-MY-YT pattern for continuity or MM-YY-TT for extra vibrancy? I wanted all the colors intermingled, but not at the expense of their vibrancy. So...I tested both.
I was initially wary of the mixing colors scheme, because of the way they looked tied together at the top.

But after separating the layers like the tutu would look in the end, surprisingly,the overlapping TM-MY-YT was exactly how I pictured the colors mixing, and they all still stood out on their own.

I loved it so much I considered making one for myself. My mom and my aunt both commissioned me to make one so I'm even getting paid for them now-exciting!

World Peace Cookies

Watch Megan's 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies fall apart spectacularly.

Sorry! I really shouldn't be apologizing, because really I'm only wrecking the experience for myself. Between starting a new job and first time apartment hunting, I've had just zero time to worry about recipes and baking and writing. So this was the first thing to go. And I won't even try and say that in the future when things get crazy hectic that I'll try harder. Cause, if I'm being honest, this would be the first thing to go again. The worst part is, I anticipated this very thing and have multiple posts already typed with pictures in place ready to go! None of them are cookies, but even if I was skipping the 12 Weeks posts, I still could have been putting something out there! Lame, Megan. Lame.

Oh well, no more excuses, I completely skipped last week, but this week I'm armed with World Peace Cookies! I'd love to say something fun about how they filled me with peace through my apartment hunt but...since I just made them this morning, that's not true. Any peace I had definitely came from above, but these cookies are still FANTASTIC. I mentioned in the beginning that I'm not a huge cookie fan, but shortbread is my total downfall. I could eat a whole batch of shortbread without sharing. This ones are still sandy and buttery, but also rich and fantastic. Make some. Eat them. You won't regret it.

World Peace Cookies
From Dorie Greenspan

1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
11 Tbsp butter, room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
generous 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Mix together flour, cocoa and baking soda; set aside.

Cream butter until light and fluffy. Mix in both sugars, salt and vanilla until well blended. Dorie then has an interesting way of mixing in the flour. Add the whole flour mixture into the bowl, and cover your bowl and mixer with a towel. Slowly pulse your mixer four or five times to combine the majority of the flour (the towel keeps you from ending up with a kitchen covered in flour!). Take the towel off and finish mixing until the flour is just combined, and mix in the chocolate chips.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide in half. Shape both parts into a log, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for two hours before baking. Dough can also be frozen, simply add an extra minute to the baking time.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. After dough has been refrigerated, cut logs into cookies and place on greased/lined cookie tray. Bake for 12 minutes (or 13 for frozen dough). Cookies will look doughy and not finished, but after cooling will be sandy and, mmm, so delish.

I only baked a quarter of the recipe, and then I ate three of the cookies before I even took pictures so I tried to fake it...

But my tray is depressingly empty...

Super Late 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies Post

Ahh, I know! I'm so behind! We can blame it on busyness, brain farts, and...buying? Maybe a stretch, but I had to try and go for alliteration!

I made my cookies for this post the same day I made the lime sandwich cookies. What I should have done was written my whole post then, too, and we wouldn't have had this problem. But in good busyness news, I started a new job this week. Between leaving my other job, and working all week at the new place, I worked 20 hours more than I've worked since moving here. So pretty much all I did was work, sleep, and neglect my blog.

This week (okay, last week), I made pumpkin cookies! Not like cookies with pumpkin in them, but pumpkin shaped cookies that I decorated. I had a real hankering for decorating Christmas cookies, but I didn't figure anyone would care to eat cookies decorated like Christmas trees or presents or candy canes. So I decided to ignore my desires-I tend to jump right over fall and start mentally celebrating Christmas in August)-and keep it within the current season.

I'm not including the decorating instructions in this current post. But I bought a Frankenstein cookie cutter, so maybe if I can find time to make those I'll put up step by step instructions. Or, more practically, sometime around Christmas I'll finally get around to it. I know, I know...

Brown Sugar and Spice Cutout Cookies
From Bake at 350

3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 sticks butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and spices. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Add egg and vanilla, mixing well. Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Roll out on a floured surface (or refrigerate for a bit, if it's too soft). Cut into whatever shapes your heart desires, (or supress your desires and cut out pumpkins...), and place on a lined/greased baking sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes. Let cool before decorating!

I better get on top of things and make something for this weeks post-it's only two days away, and I'm determined to be on time this week. I also have another tutu picture to post. I LOVE it! And now, a few extra pictures-I had way to much fun with these.

This pumpkin got scared by his friend in the background. And yes, that is, in fact, a napkin background that doesn't feel the whole picture area. Keeping it classy.

I made a bit of a messy on this one when I spilled icing out of the top of my piping bag.. But, I went with it. This poor pumpkin got scared and it made him cry. Or maybe he was just born with a birth defect...which made him cry.

I'm not linking up with all the other posts because I'm soooo late this week. But, next week (by which I mean, in two days) I will!

Lime Coconut Sandwich Cookies

Well, I made sandwich cookies again. No, it's not going to be my "thing" for the entire twleve weeks, I just wanted an excuse to try a new fruit curd recipe, and it fit perfectly with these cookies.

Again, I went through the whole not-stocked-on-kitchen-staples thing, only this time it sent me to four stores in the same day. I nearly gave up on my baking day yesterday, but eventually I got it all worked out. Until I went to make my lime curd and was out of limes. Thus when I say I adapted the recipe, what I really mean is, I ran out of limes, was too lazy to make a morning store run, and crossed them off the ingredients list.

Since moving, working in a kitchen that isn't what I'm used to, has been a strange experience. Ingredients that I grew up with constantly on hand, or fun tools I got used to, aren't standards in all kitchens. Weird, right? Most times I'll look over a recipe and think, ok, got all the ingredients, let's do this! Then I find out that not everyone buys gigantor bottles of cinnamon at Costco. Or, as with my cookies these last two weeks, since most of my kitchen tools are in box #9 in my old bedroom, I've had to make standard drop cookies by hand, and cut out cookies with the open end of a frosting tip. Not the end of the world, I was simply left with all sizes of sugar cookies, and 162 cut out cookies last week. But my things will be here in about one month, and Elton the Kitchen Aid and I will be reunited at last.

I've had these cookies on my radar for a while, because the words chewy, coconut, and lime were calling my name. They were worth the wait. I'm not a big sugar cookie person, but these have such a perfect texture and the coconut and lime add just the right amount of extra flavor. Yum...

Chewy Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies
From Rock Recipes

2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
zest of one lime
3 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup unsweetened toasted coconut
1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in egg, vanilla, lime juice and zest. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients and coconut until combined.

Roll rounded teaspoons of dough in sugar, and place on lined/greased cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden. Don't worry if they're puffed up when you first pull them out. As they cool they'll flatten nicely. Recipe makes about 60 cookies.

My nice stack of varying sized cookies.
I've always worked with a fruit curd recipe I received in a baking class. It was a huge recipe, and did taste great, but the addition of all the butter always made me squirm. I love citrus flavors, and I just wanted tart, crisp lemon flavor, not something muted with butter. (Side note: Sad that something so delicious was cursed with such a gross name. Curd...ugh, shudder....) So when I saw the color of the lemon curd on this website, I had to find the recipe. And, just as I expected, it was butter free-success! It. Was. AMAZING. It's definitely not for the citrus faint of heart. It's bold and fresh and...lime-y. I can't wait to make this with lemon and redo my lemon meringue cake-it'll totally kick it up a notch. Feel free to leave your cookies as they are, they're fantastic on their own.

Lime Curd
"Adapted" from Tartelette

1 cup lime juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg + 2 yolks

In a saucepan, stir together lime juice and sugar. Bring to a slow simmer over medium heat. In a seperate bowl, mix the egg and yolk together to combine. Slowly beat some of the lime juice mixture into the eggs. Pour egg mixture back into the pan, and stirring constantly, cook until the mixture thickens-about 5 minutes. Let cool before filling your cookies!


On a final note-these got a "really good" rating from my uncle whom I consider a food consumer, rather than a food enjoyer. Yup, they're that tasty!

Grown Up Baileys Creme Brownie Oreos

Here it is-my first official 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies post!

(Such great camera skills-too much bottom, not enough top...)
Like I mentioned in my last post, I've never been much of a cookie baker. That probably stem froms the fact that chocolate chip cookies totally intimidate me. Everyone likes their chocolate chip cookies slightly differently and I just don't know what to do since I have no opinion on them.

So, in order to expand my horizons, I decided to join 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies, and at least try 12 new recipes!

So my own personal prerequisite is that I can't use a recipe I've tried in that past. That's right, even my absolute favorite Christmas cookies won't make the cut (although, naturally, they'll make it on the blog some other way!).

Also, because of the way my hours were going at Safeway the last couple weeks, funds were...nearly nonexsistent. So the biggest challenge for me was figuring out what ingredients I had on hand, and using only those. Thus, the only things I had to buy was sugar, flour, and shortening. Not too bad. (Don't you just hate running out of kitchen staples like that all at once?!)

So, this weeks ingredients were espresso and Baileys! I decided to use a brownie roll out cookie recipe I've been hoarding for a while, and wanted to fill them with something, and finally settled on an oreo cookie filling.

I had a very small cookie cutter (well actually I left all my cookie cutters in Phoenix, and had to use the large end of a frosting tip to cut my cookies), and I ended up with 163 cookies. I was able to make 81 cookies with this recipe. And you'll probably curse me after you mix your filling thinking, "Megan, there's no way I can fill all my cookies. Now I have to mix more!" But fear not, you'll be amazed at how far the filling goes. I even had a tablespoon left over at the end.
Now, enough talking, finally on to the recipe!

Brownie Roll Out Cookies
Adapted from Technicolor Kitchen

3 cups flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp espresso powder
2/3 cup cocoa powder (*note-the original recipe calls for unsweetened, I used dark cocoa powder cause 1. I had it on hand, 2. I liked the dark cocoa with espresso/Baileys combo better, anyways.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking powder; set aside. In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla, espresso powder, and cocoa powder. Slowly add in flour mixture. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 1/4" thick, and cut as you wish! Bake for 11 minutes, or until set. After they've cooled, you can fill them with the oreo filling!

See, you may want to create bigger cookies...or else you get to fill all 81 sandwiches!

Baileys Oreo Creme Filling
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1/2 stick butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening (ie. Crisco)
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp Baileys Irish Cream

Place the butter and shortening in a large bowl. Slowly add in sugar and Baileys. Mix on high for 2 to 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

This feeling holds endless flavor possibilities, and can easily be made kid friendly by replacing the Baileys with vanilla. Ooo like peppermint oreos at Christmas time! The cookies are fudgey and so delicious. I brought them into work and overheard a coworker tell someone else she'd eaten 8 of them! They're that good.

Now, what to make next week...?

Pumpkin Spice Scones

Have I mentioned that I LOVE fall? I'm mean, they're seriously the best flavors in the world to bake with. The colors are fantastic, the smells are delicious. Seriously, what's not to love? And though I "start" fall on September 21st, was the Autumn Equinox-the official start of fall.

So what better way to celebrate than with scones?!!

These pumpkin scones are cakey and fantastic, plus they're finished off with double glaze.

Glazed Pumpkin Scones
Taken from We Heart Food

2 cups flour
7 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
6 Tbsp butter, cold, cut into squares
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3 Tbsp half and half (I used 2 Tbsp heavy cream and 1 Tbsp milk)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Either by hand, or with a pastry cutter, cut in your pieces of butter into the flour. In a seperate small bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, half and half, and the egg. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Be careful not to over mix or you'll end up with tough scones. On a floured surface, pat your dough into a circle and cut into 8 pieces. Or you can pat it in a square and cut it into pieces. For simplicity's sake, I patted mine into a 9 x 9 pan and cut it into squares.

Bake your scones for 16-20 minutes (depending on how you shaped them), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Allow them to cool before making and covering them with the plain glaze, and drizzling with the spiced glaze. Simply mix the glaze ingredients together to create.

Plain Glaze
1 cup+1 Tbsp powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk

Spiced Glaze
1 cup+3 Tbsp powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
a pinch of cloves
a pinch of ginger


I'm also super excited to be participating in the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies event, starting this Friday. For the next 12 Fridays, I'll be showcasing a different cookie recipe for that week. I'm excited, because I'm not much of a cookie maker as of right now, so I'm ready to try new recipes, flavor combinations, and of course, brand new delicious creations!

Softest Chocolate Cookies EVER

Quick, easy, and to the point tonight-Chocolava Cookies! Weird name, I know, but I love it because it's perfect. Crackly outside, with an incredibly gooey, soft chocolate center.

Chocolava Cookies
Recipe from Michelle-Meals

1 1/3 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. cocoa (I prefer dark chocolate powder for these)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 stick butter, softened
3 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add butter and mix until dough is crumbly. Add the egg whites and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix until the dogh begins to come together.

Roll dough into 1 in. balls and roll them in powdered sugar. Place 2 in. apart on a greased cookie sheet. Don't worry and think 2 in. is two close, these cookies won't spread much.

Bake for 10 minutes, cookies should be set around the edges, but still soft in the center. Let cool, and enjoy!

Cupcake Inspiration

I love cupcakes. Like a lot. I'm in love with cupcakes, if you will. I don't necessarily eat them, I'm not much of a cake/frosting person myself, but I love making them. You can be endlessly creative in your combinations and presentation. Plus, they're just mini, portable, and super cute! Can't beat a combo like that!

For me, there are certain desserts that I love making because you can change flavors and come up with something different everytime. So sometimes I'll see some flavor grouping and start thinking of them in terms of putting them together in a different way. Which is how these cupcakes came about.

As I said before, I love fall. And fall flavors are some of my favorites to back with. Lots of apples, lots of spices, pumpking, sweet potatoes, caramel... Yuummmm. So these cupcakes were inspired by simple caramel apples. I wanted to transfer those flavors into a cupcakes, and I'm really happy with the way they turned out!

This recipe also marks something new for me. I used box mix. I'm almost ashamed to admit it. Almost... But because I took the time to hand make caramel cream, apple cinnamon filling, buttercream, and apple chips, I'm not too worried about it. This simply helped me get the base done quickly and easily, which is something we all love. So I admit it, I didn't completely hand make these.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Spice Cupcakes
From Kraft
-1 box spice cake mix (don't be ashamed!!)
-3 eggs, room temperature
-1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
-1 1/3 cups applesauce-any kind will work, I used cinnamon to go with the spice theme

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Easy peasy. Mix all ingredients, pour into cupcake liners, and bake for 15-18 minutes, being sure to turn the cupcakes half way through, and make sure a toothpick comes out clean when they're done.

See, don't you just LOVE the simplicity of that? I know I do. Box mix recipes definitely won't replace my from-scratch cupcakes from now on, but from time to time, I'll definitely give them a shot.

Apple Cinnamon Three Milks Filling
From Never Bashful with Butter (The most fantastic blog. She really got me interested in more developed baking, and food blogs, as well. Unfortunately she's shut down her site, but since I knew it was coming, before she got rid of everything I managed to save 91 pages worth of recipes from her site! I know, I'm ridiculous. But I'm so glad I did. I refer to things she's done all the time.)

-1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
-scant 1/4 cup evaporated milk
-scant 1/4 cup heavy cream
-2 medium granny smith apples
-1 tsp lemon juice
-1 Tbsp butter
-2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
-1/4 tsp cinnamon
-1/8 tsp allspice

In a small bowl, mix together condensed milk, evaporated milk, and cream, and set aside.

Peel, core, and chop the apples into small pieces. Remember that they're going into the middle of the cupcakes, and try to keep them around the size of your pinky fingernail. Toss them in the lemon juice. Melt the butter over medium heat in a saucepan or frying pan. When the butter begins to brown, add the apples. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. If the apples begin to brown before they're soft, turn the heat down a little. Once the apples begin to soften, add the brown sugar, cinnamon and allspice. Slowly add the milk/cream mixture, lower the heat, and cook until the apples are soft and most of the milk has been absorbed.


Caramel Buttercream
From Annie's Eats

-2 sticks butter, room temperature
-3 egg whites, room temperature
-3/4 cup sugar
-1/2 cup caramel sauce

Cut butter into 1 inch pieces, set aside. In a medium bowl, mix sugar and egg whites. Place over a pan of boiling water, stirring constantly (you don't want scrambled eggs, after all!). Heat until egg whites reach 160 degrees on a thermometer. If you don't have a thermometer, simply cook the egg whites until they're warmer than body temperature and the sugar has dissolved-when you rub some between your fingers, you don't feel sugar crystals.

Using a hand or stand mixer, whip the egg whites until they reach stiff peaks. Slowly begin adding butter pieces while still mixing. Don't be afraid if your buttercream begins to look like a hot mess at this point. After adding all the butter, and a few extra minutes of mixing, it'll come together. Trust me! Add the caramel sauce, and mix until combined. Voila-delicious buttercream!

There are just some things I can't wait to get up here in Washington. My cupcake courier, my favorite piping tip, and my stand mixer (be still my heart), are the absolute top of my list. And once I get those again, it'll be no holds barred cupcake time. Not sure where they'll go, though...

How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure.

Today, I ran a race.

Ok that's not even a half-truth, that's just a bold faced lie.

Today I did some running. Bits broken up by normal walking.

But it got me thinking, about my relationship with God these last few years. In Hebrews, Paul describes the Christian life as a race. So if that's true, I'm the runner that gave up and sat on the side of the track watching others go by, and telling those around me that I was a runner.

Nobody would accept that person as a runner.

For the last, oh I'd say four years now, I've given up running. Not literally, cause look at me-I was never a runner-runner. But figuratively, I've taken off my running shoes, and giving up all training for the race.

I have a just, loving Father who loved me enough to send His only Son to a terrible death, for me. It's just...unbelievable. I am the worst of all sinners, and still He died for me, that I could be covered by the blood. God, the creator of all, who can't deny my sin, sees me no longer, for I'm washed white as snow. Wow. How can I just ignore a God like that? And yet, I do.

I allow life, and apathy and comfort to get in the way. Everyday I choose selfishness, doing what I desire, over spending time with Him. Talking to Him, reading His word, laying aside myself and following the lead of His still, small voice. I'm so completely undeserving of His gift of life, and I demonstrate that everyday.

But thankfully, for none of us would never be good enough, God made a way for me. He's too good to me.

Honestly I no longer know where I'm going with this. I've spent two days trying to work it out but it keeps becoming a mess of thoughts and prayers. But I love quotes, so I leave you with some.


-Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul was counted free. For God the Just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me.

-Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.-Hebrews 4:14-16

-Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling.

-Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.

-Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. -Psalm 63:3

-I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior. -John Newton

-I don't not work my soul to save, for that work my Lord has done. But I would work as any slave for love of God's own Son.

-Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last.

Falltime!

Today is officially the first day of September! Falltime!! For those of you who aren't aware, I'm a tad bit obsessed with Christmas. I start listening to Christmas music in late July/early August. My Christmas decorations are up on the first Saturday in November. Mind you I lived at home with my parents, and had 4 boxes of decorations just for my bedroom! But that just means I'm extra prepared for my first Christmas in an apartment. Luckily I already have a full sized Christmas tree!

However, November technically falls into the spectrum of fall. So in order to find time for fall decoration, fall baking, and fall scents, I officially start the fall season on September 1st. Part of that is my tradition of having pumpkin pancakes for breakfast and making pumpkin bread on September 1st.

It was rather hard to find pumpkin up here though! In Phoenix, the Safeway by my house carried canned pumpkin year round, and in the big sized cans, too. It took me four grocery stores before I was able to find pumpkin. One had only pumpkin pie mix, two had absolutely nothing, and finally the fourth has the small sized cans of "organic" pumpkin. For $2.59 a piece! I felt swindled, but I also didn't feel like driving to another store, since the closest one would be 10 minutes away. No thanks.

The pancakes are quick, and delicious. The don't overpower, and they're so soft and moist. Yummo. I like to make a whole batch, eat a few, and freeze the rest. I place them in plastic bags with squares of wax paper between each. That way I can pull out a couple someday when I'm craving them, and pop them in the toaster for a quick fix!

Pumpkin Pancakes
From Sandra Lee

1 cup pancake mix
1 cup water
1/3 cup pumpkin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger

These are literally the easiest. Simply mix all the ingredients together, then cook like normal pancakes. Done and done!

Now, for those of you like me who have no pancake mix, and are to cheap and hungry to buy any, you can make your own! The Domestic Goddess herself, Nigella Lawson, has an easy recipe for instant pancake mix.

1 cup flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Mix, add pumpkin, spices, and 1 cup milk rather than water. (I used milk instead, since this mixture wasn't for buttermilk pancakes).

Now onto the pumpkin bread! This is Martha's recipe, that I tried randomly a few years ago. I love the strong ginger flavor, it's one of my favorite spices. Somehow over time this recipe evolved into my fall baking standby. It makes two loaves, and you can add a powdered sugar glaze on top, but I choose not to.

Ginger Pumpkin Bread
Martha

2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 3/4 cups pumpkin
3 eggs
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour two bread load pans.

Mix together flour, baking powder, ginger and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. Slowly add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir until combined. Divide the batter between the pans. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool for a few minutes, before removing them from the pans and cooling on a rack. After the loaves are cool you can, 1. add a glaze, 2. add powdered sugar, or 3. dig in. I choose the third option...

On a side note, if your oven timer beeps three times and simply shuts off when it's finished, do not, I repeat, DO NOT watch an episode of Doctor Who with excessive shooting or beeping. You'll simply add the beeps to the show background noise, like adding your alarm clock sound into dreams. Luckily I think I only over cooked it by 2-3 minutes. But still, regrettable...

Ooey, Gooey Cinnamon Rolls

Who doesn't love cinnamon rolls? So warm and gooey and fantastic. There's nothing better than lounging around in some warm pjs, watching a movie, sipping peppermint mocha coffee, and enjoying a warm, homemade cinnamon roll.

Notice to delightful light switch in the background. Unfortunately that part of the counter was the only clean portion I had left after my jaunt in the kitchen (such is my style of baking), and eating my creation took precedence over cleaning up for the picture.

Cinnabon Style Cinnamon Rolls

Dough
1 cup milk (110degrees)
2 1/2 tsp bread machine/active yeast (1 envelope)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup melted (and colled) butter
1 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups AP flour, sifted

Filling
1/3 cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

Frosting
1 4 oz. pkg cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 stick butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

If you overheat your milk, it's important that you wait for it to reach 110 degrees again, before moving on. Hotter can kill the yeast, cooler, and it won't activate. So, now that we have that out of the way, moving on! With a handheld or stand mixer, combine the yeast and warmed milk. Add the sugar, melted butter, eggs, and salt. Slowly add the flour, and mix until combined. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for five minutes-this is my favorite part, becoming one with the dough! Place the dough in a bowl, cover, and keep in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. It's so cold here right now, I had to turn the heater on in my room, and keep the dough in there-it took my eggs an hour and a half to get to room temperature in the kitchen!
After the dough has doubled in size, on a floured surface, roll it out into a large rectangle (the original recipe suggests 16"x21"). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the margarine onto the dough. I suggest using tub margarine for this part, although you can use melted butter if you prefer. I simply like removing the step of melting, and waiting for it to cool, and I find the margarine much less messy, and it spreads without spilling, as melted butter would. Next, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle onto the butter. Pat the cinnamon sugar in-this makes the rolling less messy, and incorporates it into the dough better so it's gooey and fantastic!

Roll the dough, and cut into 12 pieces. Arrange them 3x4 in a lightly greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. While the rolls are baking, combine the frosting ingredients, and spread on the warm rolls. Then sit somewhere cozy, cover your legs with a blanket, and enjoy!

(I understand that it is only the end of August, and anyone in Phoenix is really their eyes at the possibility of covering up with a blanket for the next two months, but I'm lucky enough to be able to enjoy that already up here!)

And more on the cake stand in the future!

S'mores Cupcakes

Taking such a long break in the beginning is not the best way to start a blog. But having a friend in from out of town, and still working everyday, sort of took it all out of me. But I'm back, and ready to go at it again!

So for my second start, here's s'mores cupcakes! Little did I know that it was National S'mores Day when I made these. But it definitely let me celebrate!

They're especially s'mores-like with the graham cracker crust and the melted chocolate chips under the cake.

The recipe (found here) is from Trophy cupcakes, which is a cupcake shop up here in Seattle. I recently stopped by one while I was downtown, and it's so adorable! Like a cute, friendly version of Sprinkles. I had a Samoa cupcake, which wasn't mindblowing, but it was fresh and clearly not mass produced, and yummy. :)

Garage Sale Goodies!

I went garage sale-ing Saturday morning. It was so fun! I've never done it before, besides occasionally hitting up a neighbors sale and buying a book. But this morning I went to the Mother of All Garage Sales. No really, that's what it's called...Told you! It was crazy. Tons of houses in the area (118, to be exact) participated. There were rest stops, refreshments, I even bought a tamale and an elote (Mexican street corn) cooked fresh just minutes before that in someones front yard! Here's the map I got of the sales going on.

And my $2 lunch!

It was super fun. I just parked and walked up and down neighborhoods looking at all the cool things people had. Two houses in particular had the most incredible vintage stuff. If only I'd had the $375 for one of the cabinets. And, I found a trunk exactly like I've been looking for for 4 years now for $100. But I only allowed myself $40, and ended up walking away for only $20. So now, onto the goods!

Everything in this picture was $6.50. Of course, I have to have the obligatory Christmas decoration. I especially love the jar with the flat edges and the hexagon stopper, and the tall candle holder in the background. I have a plan for both those, so we'll hopefully see them again in the future!

Here's a picture of all desert plates.

I'm most excited by the four pack of Wilton heart shaped pans. I got the all for only $1! It sort of felt like highway robbery, I walked quickly to my car and put them away before I kept shopping.

The Tullamore Dew crock is the most unique (and at $5, the most expensive) thing I got. It's a Christmas gift for my dad, who uses Tullamore Dew exclusively in his "famous" Irish coffees. Mmmm, that sounds great right about now...

And finally, a couple items I got for half off at the Goodwill last week. I'm excited to give these all a makeover. Hope they turn out!

I also bought a few other items at Michaels, Goodwill, and Value Village the last few days. I'm excited to get working on them and see what happens with them. I'm sure there will be some fails to share as well, but the trying is what excites me! Be sure to keep an eye out for some of these items in the future!