Leave Biscotti to the Italians

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.

Busy Busy Bee

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!

Getting A Head Start on Christmas

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!

Special Treat for a Special Kiddo

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!

The Way To a Man's Heart is Through ... Brownies.

Now I'm no relationship expert but I have learned that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Seriously, try it some time. I also mentioned before that my boyfriend has been asking for normal brownies. He pretty much gets everything I bake and I do a lot of baking for him so I complied because I do tend to go a little crazy sometimes. But I couldn't help but get a little gutsy with another batch.

 Can't really go wrong with a chocolate chunk brownie, which is what he constantly tells me. And he's' right and they turned out great as usual. I had some extra supplies though and a little something else I wanted to add. Can you tell what it is?








You know it's already a good day when I get to use the Ninja. Despite it sounding like I'm grinding up silverware it was great for chopping up some Reese's Pieces. I didn't want them to be too fine and just add them to the batter so I sprinkled the partially chopped chunks on top.

They turned out fabulous too. Peanut butter and chocolate just work. Super simple too and it'll work with any candy you'd like really. I thought about M&M's but it would be a little too much chocolate for me. (Gasp!) I know I know.

Not too shabby, eh? 

You Live and Learn

So I always have new ideas and love experimenting with ingredients. Sometimes its' amazing (see these cupcakes and these cookies) and sometimes I screw up. Bad. (See my giant mousse disaster). This is another one of those not-so-smart instances. I thought it'd be a good idea but maybe my execution was off.

Peanut butter and jelly brownies. Sounds like it would just work. Chocolate, peanut butter and my favorite, grape jelly. I figure I'd give it a shot, can't be too bad right? Well, there's something to be said about jelly.

Looks are deceiving. I thought I was genius and so excited to try these. But the jelly. When jelly gets hot it's gooey and would be pretty good in the center of peanut butter and chocolate. Well, once the brownies are cool enough to be removed, it kind of turns into a rock. 

You could break teeth with these things after a day. I was extremely disappointed and am currently trying to figure out ways to fix it because I still like the idea. Moral of the story: Jelly is not so good after it's been heated and cooled. Unless you need to get rid of some teeth.

I'm still going to shoot for brownies. My boyfriend constantly tells me to just make "normal brownies." I can't help it. I have to add something extra. After all, we've learned that even with cookies, I need a little something extra.

He'll get normal brownies but I'm also going to experiment with Reese's Pieces again. To Be Continued…

No Such Thing as Too Much…. Peanut Butter

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.

Pretty in Pink

Last Friday I had the pleasure of babysitting my three-year-old niece for a few hours and I thought, what better way to have fun than teach her my favorite hobby: baking!

This little cutie patootie is kind of partial to the color pink. Kind of as in that's all she talks about so of course we had to translate it into a cupcake. Now I'm new to the whole "pinkalicious" movement but she loves it. So I went with it and we created the Pinkalicious cupcake.

Nothing too fancy, just some food dye, sprinkles and yellow cake. But hey, pink cupcakes are a big deal.

I've decided to always make my own frosting from now on. I never really noticed how much of a difference there is before but it's definitely there. It makes my teeth hurt thinking about the stuff in a tub so I taught Erin how to make it and well, she got a little heavy on the mixer. 

After letting the cupcakes cool we were ready to frost and no pinkalicious cupcake is complete with out some pinkalicious sprinkles. I've never seen someone so excited over pink cupcakes and sprinkles but that made it all worth it. 

And there you have it, super simple cupcakes that taste great and a super fun project for you and your favorite little one. 

Super Cupcakes for a Super Birthday

I was asked a very big favor a month ago and was very excited. I was asked to make cupcakes for a five-year-old's birthday and not just any kind of cupcakes (why be boring?), super hero cupcakes.

I found out he likes chocolate so I obviously had to make a chocolate cake but I didn't stop there. I added cream cheese and Nutella in the center. It definitely broke up the chocolate without losing too much of the chocolate flavor. Different textures usually help. 

My original intention was to put a hot chocolate mousse in the middle, but that didn't go so well.

Now onto the decorating. I made a normal buttercream frosting and divvied it up to make different colors per super hero. Spiderman obviously got red, Superman was red, blue and yellow (I bought the appropriate cupcake paper too) and Batman was blue. I found some toothpicks with the characters and decided to add M&M's on top, for another different texture. 

Needless it say it was a success and I'm really excited for more themed cupcakes. Shoot me an email if you're looking for something sweet for your next event! In the meantime, I can't wait for October...

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Baking Fail: How NOT to Make Mousse

I've made a lot of mistakes on this baking adventure but not so much where I sacrificed 50 cupcakes...

I was so excited to make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate chip mousse filling for a birthday party and thought I had it in the bag. I had my heavy cream, some powdered sugar and I used mostly hot chocolate packets to sweeten and give it a hint of milk chocolate flavor. Who doesn't love hot chocolate?

It came out beautiful. I had a huge geek moment. After all, not many people get excited over the fluffiness of homemade mousse. I was proud!

The picture doesn't really do it justice, but you get the point. 

I couldn't just leave it at that. Nope, I had to be gutsy which in turn became my downfall. I chopped up milk chocolate and white chocolate chips that I wanted to add to it. Well, they're kind of heavy and I got a little overboard and while it still tasted delicious, it flattened the mousse. And my spirit. 

It became a soupy mess and I was more upset than I should of been but hey, now I know. Ease up on the chips and fold them in instead of tossing them into the mixer. 

I tried baking them in the center anyway and it was a complete disaster and I had to start all over. I couldn't bare to serve them like that. 

So now we know and I thought I'd spread the word on how NOT to go about experimenting with mousse and you're welcome. :) Although I still highly recommend using hot chocolate packets. 

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Tea and Crumpets? Kinda...

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.

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Fresh fruit and new coffee!

Last month I was on a mission. I had to prepare for a coffee tasting and wanted to make something that would compliment my coffee well. Luckily enough, Starbucks came out with Kati-Kati.

It means "In Between" in swahili and is the in between or balance of citrus and spice from Kenya and Ethiopia. If any of you old timers out there remember Gazebo Blend -

It's similar but wayyy better. Gazebo Blend use to be used for Iced Coffee before Tarazza came out and it was a very good acidic and citrusy coffee that only came out in the summer. I was bummed when it left but am super excited for Kati-Kati. It's very acidic, light and fresh and goes great with fresh fruit. More specifically it pairs well with lemon and strawberry. Did you see the lightbulb go off? 

I decided to make lemon cupcakes with fresh strawberry frosting. I hit some snags but it ended up being the perfect compliment to the new citrusy summery coffee. 

That snag came with the fresh strawberries. I diced 'em up and thought I'd toss 'em in the frosting while I had the mixer going. It was good until the juices from the Strawberries made the frosting soupy. I kind of panicked but just added another stick of butter and some more powdered sugar to get that consistency back. I'm thinking maybe next time just fold the strawberries into the frosting. 

Needless to say, I killed the tasting and killed a new recipe that will be used again. 

Don't have the energy to bake or can't take the extra heat? Chop up a fruit salad and it's just as good with a fresh french press. 

Also, try it iced! Just brew it at double strength, pour over ice and refrigerate. It's that easy and just as good iced. 

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Break me off a piece of that ...

I think that Kik-Kats are kind of underrated. They're not usually the first thing people think of when you say candy bar but I realized it's the perfect mix of chocolate and crunch and good consistency for a frosting. I've also had requests for red velvet cake and instead of the normal cheesecake frosting I mixed it up with some crumbled kit-kats. Simple, but delicious.

I've done red velvet before - for Valentine's Day, how cliche! - and I wanted to mix it up. I did before by adding chopped up white chocolate and chocolate chips to the frosting and white chocolate chips in the batter but anyone can make a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting. My creativity escaped and I've been thinking about what I can make with Kit-Kats and this was perfect. I LOOOVVEE Red Velvet and balancing it out with a buttery frosting with the milk chocolate from the Kit-Kats balanced it out pretty well. 

I've got quite the knack for turning candy into cupcakes. Any more ideas??

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Why don't you build me up, buttercup baby...

Now that the Foundations are in my head...

Here's a take on a couple of the best candies around; peanut butter cups and Reese's Pieces. I've always made chocolate chip cookies with Reese cups in the middle but now I've turned it into a cupcake. And I couldn't just put any old frosting on top, had to add some crunch and compliment it with it's hard shelled crunchy counterpart. 

I put them in a ziplock and crumpled them up a bit, not too much so they'd still be crunchy and added them to my normal butter, powdered sugar and vanilla frosting and it's pretty epic. But before all of that, we can't forget about the hidden treasure that is the peanut butter cup in the center of the cupcake. 

Too much? No such thing. Right out of the oven they were good and still gooey but even better after a night in the refrigerator. I've always put chocolate in the refrigerator - taking after my father who does the same - and the fridge helps hold everything together. 

And there you have it, death by peanut butter. The Reese's Pieces on top balance out the rich chocolate in the center while still keeping it in the same candy family and it's perfect for a late night sweet tooth.

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Two Pretzels were walking down the street, one was assaulted

I thought I hit a jackpot with these babies but making the impossible possible, I struck even more gold with caramel pretzel cupcakes. Not only that, I got to use my favorite gadget in the world to make the frosting.

I give you, the Kitchen Aid Mixer.

Yes, I've fallen in love with an appliance. If you bake, you understand. Not only that, the frosting could not have been easier to make. All it is is butter, powdered sugar and chopped up pretzels. The pretzel frosting pretty much makes the cupcake. Not only that, but I put a Werther's caramel chew in the middle of each one. 

I didn't get the gooey-consistency center like I expected but it turned out even better. It created a caramel coating on the bottom of the cupcake that had just enough candy crunch but not enough to where you feel like your teeth are going to fall out. 

And for the grand finale...

They went over pretty well, to say the least and I will be making them again. Perfect combo of sweet and salty and I'm kind of proud of myself for whipping this up on just a hunch and a trip to Aldi. 

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