Sunday, February 27, 2011

Oreo Rocky Road Brownies

I was just away for a week in Puerto Rico, and every day at the beach the resort would give us a free pack or oreos. Instead of eating them, I stockpiled them up and planned on using them in a new recipe when I came back home. I was worried security may stop me again and wonder why I had almost 40 oreos in my bag (I have been stopped the three past times I was flying because seriously, a 5'2" blonde 17 year old looks very incriminating), but fortunately I flew through security and didn’t have to do any explaining about my interesting baggage contents.
For a new spin on rocky road bars I came up with oreo, marshmallow brownies.

Ingredients:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
9 plus 3 Oreos, coarsely chopped
¾ cup plus ½ cup mini marshmallows

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8×8 inch baking pan. In a small saucepan over medium heat, place the unsweetened chocolate and butter. Continually whisk the two together, and turn off the heat once the butter is melted but continue to whisk the mixture until fully melted and blended together.


In a separate bowl stir the eggs and sugar together, and then add the chocolate and butter mixture to it. Then add in the vanilla and salt, and finally the flour. Mix until well combines and fold in the semisweet chocolate chips, ¾ cup of the marshmallows, and 9 of the chopped oreos.
Pour the mixture into the already greased pan and spread it so it is evenly distributed throughout the pan. Finally, top it with the 3 extra chopped oreos and ½ cup of marshmallows.
 Place in the preheated over for 30 to 35 minutes and cool before slicing.

In order to prevent the marshmallows on top from being crunchy, you can add them on top when there is only 2 more minutes of baking time left.

These came out dense and fudgy, and good. You can always add nuts if you want but I didn’t want to complicate. The marshmallows complimented the cream filling of the oreos well, and I didn’t find the marshmallows on top to be too hard.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Apple Bread





Granny smith apples are my favorite, but I am super picky about them. Because I’m so picky, we had some leftover apples in the kitchen that didn’t quite meet my strict specifications. Though I didn’t think they looked good enough to eat plain, I thought they would be perfect to put in a healthy bread recipe. With this in mind I came up with a recipe for semi-whole wheat apple cinnamon bread. Sprinkling the brown sugar on top just adds a perfect sweet touch.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole what flour
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup unsalted room temperature butter
1/3 cup agave
¼ plus ¼ cup drown sugar
1 egg
1 cup Greek yogurt
2 large peeled and cored apples, coarsely chopped

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 350°F. Grease a 9.25x5.25x2.75 inch pan and set it aside. In a large bowl, mix together the butter and add the granulated sugar and ¼ cup of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy and then add the egg and the Greek yogurt. Stir in the dry ingredients (flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon), and fold in the apple chunks.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the last ¼ cup of brown sugar on top.
Bake for 55-65 minutes and cool before slicing.
You could also place the batter into muffin tins, but obviously the cooking tie would be less so insert a toothpick to check. When the inserted toothpick comes out clean, you know that they are ready to take out of the oven.
Didn't wait enough time to slice woops!
That's what happens when you're too eager to eat...

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Reese’s Cup Brownie Bites

I was at the local grocery store today which can often have very expensive prices, but behind the counter I saw a special for ½ off holiday candy. I’ve been meaning to bake something with reese’s cups, so when I saw them on sale I quickly snatched them up and whipped up something easy and bite sized that makes great peanut butter cups even better.

Who cares about holiday wrappers
when you're taking them off anyways?
Ingredients:
3/4  cup butter, melted

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 cup chocolate syrup
½ teaspoon salt

40 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Directions:
The syrup makes them super moist.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease mini cupcake pans and set aside.  In a medium bowl mix the melted butter, sugars and vanilla, and then beat in the eggs and chocolate syrup. Slowly add the flour, cocoa, and salt and mix everything together.  Fill each cupcake spot until it is about 2/3 of the way full. Finally, insert a peanut butter cup into each cupcake until it is basically in line with the chocolate batter.

Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes and then allow them to cool before removing them from their tins.

The inside was soft and gooey but the top had a light crispiness that tasted soo good. Good for any peanut butter and chocolate lover.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Mint Chocolate Cake Truffles

When I was doing the little studying I did do for my European history midterm I came accross Marie Antoinette's quote, "let them eat cake," and I thought, well, why not?
For this treat I decided to combine two things everyone loves; cake and truffles, and even though it took some work, I found it was definitely worth doing again (maybe even try it with new flavors).

Ingredients:
Cake-
1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
1/3ecup butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup cold milk

Frosting-
2 cup powdered sugar; sifted
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Chocolate Coating-
2 cups semi-sweet/dark chocolate chips
12 crushed up chocolate wafer cookies

Directions:
Stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and baking soda into a bowl. Beat together the sugar and butter on high speed of mixer until fluffy, and then beat in the egg, vanilla, and peppermint extract. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, alternating with milk and beating well after each addition.
I didn't crumble in the edges of the
cake since they were crispier.
Pour the batter into a greased and floured 9" round cake pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes and cool 10 minutes.
For the frosting, beat together the sugar, butter, extract and enough milk to make smooth consistency. Add the cocoa powder and mix well.
Using your hands, crumble bits of the cake into the frosting. Now, using a spoon or your hands, mix the frosting and cake until well mixed.
Mixing the frosting & cake together.
Take the frosting-cake mixture and form into small truffle-sized balls and place them onto a baking sheet.
Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 45 minutes to an hour or the refrigerator for several hours.
Remove the cake drops from their cool place and place the semisweet/dark chocolate chips in a saucepan and heat them over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until melted.
Using a spoon, take each individual cake drop and roll it around in the chocolate. Tap off excess chocolate and place onto a baking sheet covered with wax paper. After a minute, roll each ball into the crushed up chocolate wafer cookies (if you wait too long the chocolate will harden and the cookies won’t stick). Place the cake truffles back on the sheet and let them cool and harden. You may place them back into the freezer or refrigerator for a couple minutes to harden them as well.
Pure chocolate goodness throughout-I keep mine in the
fridge so they stay cool, but you can do whatever you want.
The result was a soft mint chocolate center with a subtle crunch of the cookies on top, all held together by a layer of chocolate. So why just "eat cake" when you could eat a cake truffle?

Friday, February 11, 2011

Monster Cookies




I always make baked goods for the girl’s track team and the boys get mad if I don’t have enough for them too. My one friend in particular has on multiple occasions tried to steal them away, though I have never failed to find them stashed near his stuff. This time though, I’m making him his own bucket of cookies so I don’t have to listen to any more complaining from him.
I thought it would only be appropriate to make “Monster Cookies” for him. The original recipe came from Paula Deen, but I changed it around just a bit.

Ingredients:
1 egg
½ cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon corn syrup
¾ teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons butter
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ sweetened coconut flakes
1 ½ cups rolled oats
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup M&M's

I give you permission to
taste the batter.
Directions:
Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, and do not over bake. Let the cookies cool for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. 


A bucket of cookies he can hoard for himself.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Doggie Treats

Lucy is usually not this obedient.
Treats in an air tight container will last for much longer.



Now we always focus on making treats for ourselves, but what about our pets? For a while now I have been giving my two small dogs cookies I bake at home, and that way I know exactly what they’re eating (no fake ingredients here). I found this recipe for small dog ankle biter peanut butter drops courtesy of Robin’s FYI:


Ingredients:
3/4  cup flour 
1 egg 
1 tablespoon honey 
1 teaspoon  peanut butter 
1/4  cup  butter 
1  teaspoon  baking soda 
1/4  cup rolled oats 
1/2  teaspoon vanilla 


Directions: 
Heat honey and peanut butter in microwave until peanut butter is melted (about 20 seconds) 
Mix add remaining ingredients  
Drop by 1/2 teaspoonful onto cookie sheet  
Bake at 350 F for 8 to 10 minutes
Fenway enjoying her treat.
I can't really comment how these taste but I can tell you for sure that my dogs definitely enjoy them.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Whole Wheat Banana Bread & Muffins

So Dad wasn’t very happy with me the other day (not like I did anything wrong- jk love you daddy if you’re reading this!). To make him happy I decided to make his favorite whole what banana bread. He’s not big into cookies and cupcakes, but he loves his banana bread recipe because there is enough sweetness while it’s still decently healthy. The recipe is actually from my grandmother who’s a health nut in Florida, so thanks Nona!
I actually doubled the recipe this time and used half of the batter for bread, and half for muffins

Recipe:

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter
½ cup sour cream
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup (basically 2 whole) bananas
1 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup pecans
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a large bowl, beat eggs sugar and butter together and mix well. Stir in bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Stir in flour, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. Chop pecans and then add them to the batter and blend them in.
Grease and flour either a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan or muffin tine. Fill the loaf pan with all the batter or fill the individual muffin cups ¾ of the way full.
If making a regular loaf, bake the bread for 60 minutes or bake the muffins until an inserted toothpick comes in clean (you will obviously need to bake larger muffins for more time, I needed to bake mine for about 15 minutes). If you are making muffins, make sure that you fill cups that are not filled with batter with water in order to prevent the cups from burning.

Remove from oven and let cool before slicing.
I slid a knife around the edges to make it easier to take out
the muffins from the tin.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Sugar Cookie Donuts

Tomorrow is our conference championship for indoor track and I knew the runners would want to have some cookies after our races in order to hopefully celebrate another year of coming in first place!
Since everyone loves soft sugar cookies I thought I would try to make this classic a little more fun by making them into doughnut shapes complete with pink icing (I’m not planning on giving these ones to the boys team) and rainbow sprinkles.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
Cookies-
2/3 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons cream of tartar
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt

Icing-
2 cups confectioners' sugar
¼ cup butter
2 tablespoons & 1-1/2 teaspoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
Food coloring (your choice)

Sprinkles

Directions:
Cream the butter and slowly add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the vanilla and then add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt into the creamed mixture.
Cover and chill dough overnight in the refrigerator.
Dough before it was chilled.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. (*I find its easier if you spray your pan with pam and then place the parchment paper on top so it sticks better*).

Scoop the dough into small balls and roll the balls into ropes about 4 inches long and about 1/2 in diameter. Coil the ropes into round doughnut shapes, leaving a small hole in the middle.
Make sure to leave space between the cookies.
Place the cookies in the over for 7-9 minutes.

I used only 2 drops of coloring.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and butter until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, around 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if you want. You can even separate the icing and color the icings different colors to make an array of different colored donuts.
 
Using a knife spread the icing onto the cooled cookies. Afterwards, lightly sprinkle the cookies with sprinkles.


This recipe makes 2 dozen, just like 2 boxes of donuts.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

White Chocolate Swirl Brownies

Chunks of white chocolate goodness.


After a total of seven snow days, today finally marked the last day of midterms!
I thought it may be festive to bring in something for our first day as second semester seniors tomorrow so I chose to try a new technique of mixing white and semi-sweet chocolate.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
2 1/2 sticks softened butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 plus 2/3 cups white chocolate chips or chunks
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:
The batter before swirling in the melted white chocolate.
Heat oven to 350°F and grease a 9 x 13 pan. 

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy and then add the eggs and vanilla and beat these ingredients together well. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and gradually blend this into the butter mixture. Stir about a cup of white chocolate chips. Spread batter in prepared pan. 

In a small saucepan place 2/3 cup of white chocolate chips and two tablespoons of heavy cream over low heat. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon until melted and sooth. Drop spoonfuls of the melted white chocolate mixture over the chocolate dough that is already in the pan. Afterwards, take a knife and using back and forth strokes, swirl the white chocolate in with the batter.

Bake 30-35 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely and then cut into bars.

They turned out crisp on the edges, but even these parts tasted good. Not exactly the complete swirl look I was going for after they baked on top but the taste was still there and that's what really matters.