Now I love biscotti and always wanted to try making it but I thought it would take forever. Biscotto actually means "twice baked" and that's exactly what you do. Im a fan of butterscotch and that's where my issue was.
To make them, you mix your ingredients and separate the dough into two loaves and bake them for twenty minutes. I added a bag of butterscotch chips to mine and it may have been too much. I know, crazy talk right?
So far looking good right? Well, as you see below the butterscotch decided to ooze out and stick to the pan. I didn't want it to burn so I pulled it out of the oven and let it rest. Which, you're supposed to do that anyway so it's cool enough to slice into those familiar shapes .
When I pulled it out of the oven I thought it was salvageable. Nothing was burnt and it looked like what I thought it should. Then came the slicing. Let's just say it's not as easy as it looks to make those diamond shapes. Well, making the shapes wasn't the issue, it was the cookie holding onto that shape.
I was excited because they started to look normal at this point. After slicing I put them back into the oven for another 15-20 minutes or so. The recipe said 10 minutes but they definitely weren't done by then.
At the end of the day, they were very good. Only two made it out looking like actual biscotti but I would definitely try making them again.
I've gone full-throttle into baking for the holidays and the madness has just begun.
Eggnog is usually a Christmas staple, if you're into that thing. I however, am not a huge fan of it. I like to think I like it, but I can't drink an entire glass, it's too rich. After seeing a recipe for "Melt in Your Mouth Eggnog Cookies" I had to try it. Just a touch of eggnog couldn't hurt, right?
The recipe calls for rum extract and the first time I made them I didn't have rum extract and didn't feel like trekking out in the snow to get it, so I uses almond. The almond extract worked pretty well, I was pleasantly surprised. Second time around however, I made it with rum extract and it was so much better! Eggnog has a similar flavor to the rum extract which brought it out even more without having to use too much, especially in the frosting. Putting too much liquid will otch your icing so the extract gave the eggnog a little help in standing out.
It's perfect for the holidays whether you love eggnog or like to think you love it.
After making these I had some eggnog left and wanted to incorporate into something else. I started making peanut butter cookies, adding some peanut butter chips to the batter and thought maybe some eggnog frosting/glaze would go well. I was nervous about the two flavors mixing but they worked out pretty well.
The peanut butter and the eggnog complimented each other well. The eggnog balanced out all of the peanut butter and visa versa and they turned out even better than I thought!
Last year, I was quite the Scrooge, which is so unlike me. I didn't watch many Christmas movies, didn't listen to Christmas music and was just not feeling it. I even had a binge baking night to get it into my system. I was convinced it was because I was out of the retail world. I had started a new job and I getting Christmas music shoved down my throat for an entire month. Turns out it was a mix of that and well, let's just say a lot of stress at the new, now former job.
Anyway, I tried to get a head start on things this past Sunday with something super simple that's not really baking and well, they aren't square but who cares! I haven't made chocolate covered pretzels since I was a kid and forgot how super easy it is and remembered that almond bark works the best. I was taught to melt the white and dark together and it works out perfectly.
I also decided to actually bake and they say imitation is the best form of flattery. In that case, Macy's should be flattered. I went to the Walnut Room with the boyfriend and fam and had what seemed like the outside of a large Oreo cookie dunked in white chocolate. Well, I had to try it. I panicked once I started because I didn't have eggs and well, wasn't in the mood for a drive. I found some "substitutes" as in oil, water and baking powder but that didn't really do anything. The cookies flat out sunk in the middle but I had already committed so I had to finish the job. Surprisingly, they are quite tasty.
They're not the prettiest things on earth but I somehow managed to get the perfect crunch of the outside of an Oreo and just melted some more white almond bark and crushed up some candy canes and I got pretty darn close. Definitely worth another shot but next time I'll actually use an egg to save some trouble. I have a lot of other ideas on my list as well including eggnog cookies. Happy Baking!
So long story short, a friend of mine's daughter was pretty sick for awhile and I wanted to make her something for when she felt better. I've kinda go a knack for this baking thing so I asked what her favorite candy or flavor was and if she was a cupcake or a cookie gal. After given dark chocolate and cookies as clues, I whipped up a quick and easy but delicious treat.
I didn't want to bake a chocolate chunk cookie. While delicious, they can be boring and predictable especially since I've kind of created a reputation for myself. And, I found out anyway that she ended up making chocolate chip cookies herself the day before. So I went with one of my favorites, oatmeal. I must admit, I'm not a fan of dark chocolate. Gasp! I know I know. It is a preferred taste but the oatmeal muffled it a little to where I actually enjoyed it.
The whole process was really simple. I got a giant bar of dark chocolate and put it into the Ninja, just long enough to chop it up but not too much. I wanted chunks, not fine shreds.
I learned pretty quick that dark chocolate melts really fast while you're dealing with it so you don't want to keep it in the chopper too long anyway. Mixing it into the batter may have been an issue too so I just crumbled the chunks of chocolate on top of each cookie before putting them in the oven.
I was kind of worried about that decision at first because it looked like a pool of chocolate on top but it worked out nicely and turned out pretty tasty. So don't be afraid of dark chocolate if you're not a fan, there are ways to make it work. Plus, it's supposed to be good for you!
I made a chai glaze that I was worried about but they ended up being fantastic so I knew I couldn't screw up a basic snicker doodle. (I highly recommend the recipe from yours truly) And since I can't just keep things simple I wanted something more than just cinnamon and sugar. It's still pumpkin season and without adding real pumpkin, partially so it would last longer, I made another glaze. I've gotten better at glazes/icing, where it actually looks like it should and I'm pretty proud of this one.
I usually use a mix of spices to get that pumpkin flavor. You know, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. And in a glaze or an icing you need is powdered sugar and some sort of liquid. If you want more of a clear glaze you can use water but I wanted it to be more like icing and a different consistency so it didn't look slimey. In that case you'd use milk or half and half but I found the best of both; my favorite coffee creamer this time of year. Pumpkin Pie Coffee Mate. I just mixed that with powdered sugar and even just a touch of shortening to thicken it up and it ended up being a lot better than I thought. If you are just trying to whip it up quick like I did without breaking out the mixer, make sure you get your arm muscles ready to go so you can continually whisk to get the air it needs. A good 3-4 minutes if you can manage.
I have found this to be the easiest method for frosting cookies. Just dunk them upside down and quickly flip them over and place on a cooling rack or a plate. I fell in love with my new three tier cooling rack from Wilton and it works perfectly if you just put some paper towels, wax paper, parchment paper or even tin foil below so you don't get icing all over your workspace.
After a dip into the pool I sprinkle some pumpkin pie spice, or you can use the extra cinnamon sugar, just cinnamon, cloves, etc. etc. Let them rest and you're ready to go.
Once again I have amazed myself. Not to toot my own horn but, toot toot! That's twice now within a month, remember these??
This is again something I will make again, or at least a variation. I haven't given up on experimenting despite some disasters I've made, from cookies and brownies as hard as rocks and mousse that turned into soup. I'm not giving up and hope you learned as much as I have!
So I'm not a huge fan of just regular old peanut butter cookies. I'll eat them but I'd rather make something a little more. I am a big fan of Reese's Pieces and I bought them with intensions of using them in Puppy Chow but changed my mind. I had a craving for cookies and I know my boyfriend loves peanut butter cookies. I like candy in cookies so I made peanut butter Reese's Pieces cookies. Genius. I impressed myself on this one.
I had a few worries. One being that it may be too much peanut butter. The candy coating evened it out nicely and the consistent and even taste of peanut butter in Reese's Pieces is different than that in a cookie. It was rather harmonious, if you will.
Another worry was that I got a little happy with the Reese Pieces. I put the entire bag in one batch and at one point it looked like more candy than cookie. Again, I was wrong. You really can't put too much in I guess. The more the merrier.
I must say I was pleasantly surprised and amaze myself sometimes. These will be made again.
Looking back onto the cupcakes I made, I already planned on cookies but decided to reuse the frosting.
I still wanted to make pumpkin without pumpkin so I made pumpkin spice cookies and added the brown sugar frosting.
Not the prettiest things in the world but they're super delish. Perfect fall spices for a perfect fall dessert. :) And I didn't waste any frosting. I was worried about it being too much on the cookie but it was perfect.
Crumpets are a griddle cake that pretty much look like an English Muffin and are mainly eaten in the United Kingdom with tea. Well around these parts, I bake cookies with my tea.
Let's start with the tea. Chai tea has always been my favorite, especially the chai tea lattes at Starbucks. Chai is a black spiced tea from india and the word Chai simply means 'tea' in Hindu. There are strong notes of cinnamon and cloves that stand out but also cardamom and ginger.
I wanted to play off the cloves and cinnamon aspect of the chai. I've made chai frosting before with pumpkin bars but that's a whole new ballgame that we'll get to come fall. I've ironically not been much of a fan of cinnamon but I do enjoy cinnamon sugar so I wanted to incorporate that into the cookie but not too much to where it would take away from the spiced chai flavor.
So I turned to the snickerdoodle. I haven't experimented with the snickerdoodle much but I'm glad I did. The dough is stickier and more doughy than normal cookie dough which gives it a little flakiness. I rolled the dough into balls, rolled it into some cinnamon sugar and baked about 10-12 minutes at 350.
While they were baking I made a chai glaze. It's easier than it sounds. All I used was powdered sugar, water, ground cinnamon and ground cloves. I combined everything with a whisk until I reached a taste and consistency that I wanted and dunked the cookies in. The advantage to the square shape is that it sinks a little in the middle and holds onto more of the glaze that hardens in the fridge after awhile.
I dont mean to toot my own horn but I continue to impress myself and definitely see myself making these in the future. Tea party or not.
They're back! Well, they have been for a little over a month but still, it's Shamrock Shake season and it won't last for long.
My typical mindset was in place and I thought, "Hey, I can turn that into a cupcake." So, I did.
I was nervous to attempt to imitate the flavor of the shamrock shake which is probably near impossible and I've got some learning to do.
With a little liquid inspiration - Anti-Hero in a can! - I experimented with Creme de Menthe and white chocolate.
I'm not a huge fan of mint but I do like Shamrock Shakes and didn't want to get too crazy with the Creme de Menthe, so I used white chocolate to balance it out. It worked, but because of my fear of too much mint the cupcakes could have used a little more.
I made your normal buttercream frosting, had some green sprinkles left over from Christmas and topped them with red candies to look the part.
I was on a cookie kick earlier that week so I tried to make cookies out of them as well. The green color is a little weird and of course this time I put a little too much Creme de Menthe in the batter, so eventually I'll find a happy medium. It all depends on your tastebuds.
One tip, ease up on the liquids with the sugar cookie recipe if you're adding Creme de Menthe, otherwise it gets really soupy and hard to deal with.
Green food can be kind of weird but it's fun to make and perfect for St. Patty's Day!
Hallmark Holidays are good excuses to bake and Valentine's Day is no exception when it comes to themed sweets. I admit, I fall victim to the cliches but what can I say, they're tasty.
First what every cupcake tends to be in the month of February: Red Velvet.
I added chocolate chips to the batter for a surprise but the frosting is what I'm most proud of... I took the leftover red chocolate chips and chopped them up with some white chocolate chips to mix into the frosting.
And it's pretty epic... The white chocolate balances out the dark and the dark chocolate balances out the sweetness of the cream cheese in the frosting. And that combo balances out the richness of the cake.
I'm not finished yet! I'm on a constant quest to jazz up sugar cookies and the Valentine's theme was easy to go with. Found some red food coloring, made some white icing with heart sprinkles and voila!
Whether you're a fan of Valentine's Day or not, it's always a good excuse for a cookie or a cupcake ;). I should also apologize to my neighbors if I freaked them out by leaving cupcakes and cookies outside their doors.. I had too many!
I've been falling behind on the blogging lately, but definitely not on the baking. I've been in experimental mode and tried a new cookie last week.
It was just another day, I was sitting on the couch eating my oatmeal squares when my boyfriend and I started talking about Golden Grahams and that thought came into my head, "I bet I can turn that into a cookie..." And I did. Who doesn't love cereal and who doesn't love cookies? Boom.
It was pretty simple really. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go full-out graham cracker so I added some peanut butter. However, they could probably use a tune up. Peanut butter can be overpowering and it did overpower the cereal so next time I'll have to ease up or ditch the peanut butter completely. Gives me an excuse to make another batch ;).
So I mayyyy have gone a little overboard last week with the baking; whipping out cupcakes, muffins, cookies and brownies but it was well worth it. I already shared the cupcakes and muffins, now let's get to the other goods.
I felt like I needed to add a little chocolate into the mix, and I'm not a fan of just plain chocolate so I had to mix it up.
I usually have butterscotch chips on hand and thought they'd be the perfect sweet touch to add to the rich chocolate and peanut butter chips in these brownies. They flew pretty quick at my boyfriend's apartment so it had to be a good combo.
This usually doesn't end well but I got into some late night baking Sunday. AKA I couldn't sleep and made a ton of cookies. Way too much... But they're cute AND delicious!
I took a sugar cookie and jazzed them up for Valentine's Day. And as my boyfriend told me, sugar cookies are underrated. I agree in that people look at a sugar cookie's bland complexion and think twice before indulging, so you gotta make them look good.
The good thing about Valentine's Day is there's always a ton of candy on sale and when I think of candy I think of what I can bake it with. I found heart-shaped chocolates that have a different filling in each one and baked them into the cookies. Anywhere from just fudge, peanut butter, caramel, crisps and even cookies and cream were in the candies and of course the heart shape made them festive and season-appropriate.
I also managed to find the right baking time so they weren't hard as a rock, it's actually pretty easy to burn a sugar cookie and making any cookie in this brownie pan can go horribly wrong and threaten to break teeth if you don't know how to bake them. Ten to twelve minutes usually does the trick, they may seem undercooked and too soft at first but when you give them time to cool they're the perfect consistency.
Before that I made the same exact ones with peanut butter. Just like too much chocolate, I'm not a fan of too much or just straight up peanut butter so the candies helped that balance out as well.
The topper to this Hallmark Holiday mood I've been in is now this classic has been stuck in my head and probably will be until the end of February. Thanks Huey!
And now I want to watch Back To The Future. Think I can make Delorean cupcakes?
Definitely made up for lost time on this one. In my attempt to get into the Christmas spirit I tackled two different kinds of cookies AND brownies. Here we go..
I use to think potato chip cookies were weird. They sound weird and are hard to imagine, but once I tried them I loved them and decided to tackle 'em. With a twist, of course.
I found a recipe that includes butterscotch chips, and I must say it's a pleasant surprise.
Again, potato chip cookies, it sounds weird but they're worth a shot.
Considering I have this brownie pan that I've been using for cookies and cake, it's about time to make brownies with it. In order to keep it out of the house I went for the peanut butter route. I like peanut butter, but in moderation so this made it easier to pass along to my boyfriend who's pretty much become my taste-tester and is a fan of anything peanut butter.
These are also made with chopped peanuts and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Still debating on making a nutella icing to pour on top.
Sidenote- these gave me an excuse to use one of my favorite kitchen gages - The Ninja!
Even though I'm not the biggest fan of peanut butter, the chocolate off-sets it all and they're still really good.
Now more cookies..The best cookies are actually just simple sugar cookies. Sugar cookies are real easy to make and can seem pretty bland, but you have to have some fun with them...
Say hello to the Global Warming Snowmen. This is what happens when it's 60 degrees on December 3rd in Chicago and explains why I still can't get into Christmas.
Okay maybe not thaaat bad but Mondays are usually baking days which brings the pumpkin bars I've been talking about. It's not too late for pumpkin, it IS still fall! No skipping Thanksgiving.
Crunchy, cookie-esque bars complete with pumpkin and complimenting flavors like nutmeg and cinnamon. Not to mention the cream cheese frosting I made with little dashes of cloves and cinnamon, giving it that chai-like flavor.
Of course I didn't stop there. Couldn't decide if I wanted to make cookies or brownies, sooo I combined them!
Chocolate chip brownie meets chocolate chip cookie. What's even better is eating them warm with vanilla ice cream on top. Or just eating them warm with your favorite cup of coffee (again, Verona's cocoa flavor notes go perfectly with all the chocolate madness going on) or a hot chocolate. Just feels right now that it's snowing in November.
In preparation for that I picked up stuff to make gingerbread cakes. Still think it's too early to tackle that, I'm not a fan of skipping holidays. But, speaking of gingerbread and spices, what the end of Thanksgiving means is the return of Christmas Blend to Starbucks! Also known as Holiday Blend (yes, they really are the SAME thing)
Starbucks has managed to throw you for even another loop by creating Christmas Blend Espresso roast.
What's the difference?
Well first, people automatically assume that espresso roast can only be used for espresso machines and espresso beverages. Nope! It's just a stronger roasted coffee that yes, is used in espresso machines but can be made in your coffee pot at home.
Back to the Christmas Blend. The normal blend is sweet, spicy and herbal and will go perfectly with all your gingerbread and nutmeg treats.
The Christmas espresso roast is basically the same thing, but has a little more kick. Not in caffeine, but in flavor. Remember, the darker the roast the LESS caffeine there is.
It's deeper and darker with that the help of the rich espresso roast but still holds the spicy and sweet and a smooth-like carmel feel to it.
Getting waaay ahead of myself. Even though Starbucks already has the red cups, it's only fair to let Thanksgiving Blend finish it's course.
Yup, I've got plenty of ideas coming my way and I can't wait!! Another plus, the South Side knows what's up. I was still able to get some pumpkin spice marshmallows for a pretty crazy awesome batch of rice krispie treats. :)
Not to mention pumpkin bars and hot chocolate cake with marshmallow frosting on the wish list. It'll be a busy baking rest of the week!
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