Toffee Cookies

I used a cellophane bag and a large cupcake
liner to package the cookies nicely.

Being a senior in high school there has been a lot of news lately coming in from colleges for my friends. In the beginning of the year when people were hearing from their ED schools, I made some good luck cookies for my friends Brandon, Zack, and Olivia. They got into Cornell, UPenn, and Dartmouth respectively, so we deemed by cookies to be good luck charms.

My friend Steven is hearing back tomorrow from school and I promised I would bake him something for good luck.

Bake until they are slightly brown on the edges
so they're a mix of crispy and soft.

I hope he gets in!

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 stick softened butter

½ cups sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

1 egg

½ teaspoon vanilla

½ cup toffee bits

¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease two baking sheets.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda in one bowl and in another beat together the butter in sugar. Once mixed, beat in the eggs and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture. After it is well blended at in the dry mixture until mixed. Finally, stir in the walnuts, chocolate chips, and toffee bits.

Spoon 1-inch balls of dough onto the greased cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool. 

Maple Snickerdoodles

After making my snickerdoodle bars I received a request to make more snickerdoodles. Now it's been a while since then but I never fail to deliver a promise if it involves baking.

To make these snickerdoodles more unique I added some maple syrup which added flavor and sweetness.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

1 ½ teaspoons plus 1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup butter

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup real maple syrup

1 egg

1 cup plus ¼ cup white sugar

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in one bowl. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 1 cup of white sugar until fluffy and then beat in the egg and maple syrup. Afterwards, gradually blend in the dry ingredients until mixed well.

Chill dough for one hour.

In a small bowl, combine the ¼ cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Roll the chilled dough into 1 inch balls and then roll them into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove from cookie sheets and immediately use a spoon to sprinkle some of the leftover cinnamon sugar on top.

Soft on the inside and a little crispier on the edges is the perfect consistency for a snickerdoodle.
When I told my friend I made these he was so excited you would have thought I bought him a new car. The next day when I gave them the cookies, he coveted them and wouldn't let anyone take one so he could save them for later.

Fortunately he does track so he can run off all that extra cookie he eats.

Rolo Cups

So what do you know, it's spring and we have a 2 hour delay for snow and sleet. I would like to be sleeping but I was lying in bed for about an hour (even before regular start time of school) and I was finding it impossible to fall back asleep. So instead of just lying there, I thought I could be more productive and invent a new baking recipe.
I fished into my cabinets and saw some rolo candies. I decided to experiment making blondie-like cups with rolos inside.
Here's what I came up with:






Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

½ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

About 30 rolo chocolate caramel candies

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F and heavily grease 2 small-sized muffin/cupcake tins and set aside (to make it easier to take the rolo cups out in the end).

Combine together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into one bowl. In another bowl, mix together the sugar and butter and then beat in the egg and vanilla. Once this is combined well, gradually add in the dry ingredients and finally mix in the mini semisweet chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into the individual cups until it is about 3/4 of the way full. Afterwards, insert a rolo candy into the center of each cup until it is even with the top of the batter.

Mini chips are good to not overpower,
and make the rolo stand out.

Place the tins into the oven for 14-17 minutes.

remove from the oven, let cool, and then remove from the tins and enjoy.

I put in a little too much batter so they puffed up a little more than desired, but it was kind of nice because in a way it concealed the rolo inside so it was more of a surprise and the taste of it was still very, very good.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Bread

Mmmmmmmmm.

For Lent my friend decided that she would give up sweets which is a problem for me because about the quarter of the time I bake for her and make her try the concoctions I come up with. However, I realized that I could still make her some baked goods, as long as they weren't cookies or brownies or anything too sugary. She was thrilled when I told her that I had made her whole wheat blueberry bread and aid it was one of the best things I have ever baked!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Lemon zest adds a little flavor punch
that compliments the blueberries.


¼ cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon


¾ cups sugar

1 ¼ cup white whole wheat flour


¾ cup oats

1-2 tablespoons flaxseed meal

1 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda


1 teaspoon lemon zest

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup room temperature butter

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla


½ cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon canola oil

½ cup chopped walnuts

1 cup blueberries

Fold in blueberries to prevent them from being squished.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a larger bowl, mix together the butter and sugar. Once mixed, add in the eggs, vanilla, and oil. Next, add in the Greek yogurt and lemon zest, and once this is all well combined, slowly add in the dry flour mixture.

Stir in the walnuts and finally fold in the blueberries, being careful not to crush them.

Pour the batter into your already greased loaf pan.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, remove form the oven and let cool before slicing.


I put in some flaxseed for extra nutrient benefits, but you couldn't even taste it. The bread is kind of hard to cut though in nice clean slices, but whatever, it all tastes good anyways.

Best Blondies

I've been out all day, but I told my friend Callie that I would bake something for tonight so I decided I would make my easy blondie recipe that never fails

Blondies are a classic favorite that are unfortunately often better in theory than how they actually turn out after they come out of the oven. Many recipes don't get the consistency right, so I was pleased to find that Hershey's recipe made really great tasting blondies with just the right texture.
I made a couple adjustments to the recipe to make it even better, and I have found that everyone has been pleased with the results.
Recipe:
Ingredients:

2 cups packed light brown sugar

1 cup melted butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup peanut butter chips

2/3 cup toffee bits

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 9 x 13 pan.

Stir together the brown sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat in the eggs and vanilla until smooth. Afterwards, ad the flour and salt until blended. Finally, stir in the chocolate and peanut butter chips and toffee bits.

This batter is chunky with all the different types of chips.

Spread this batter into the prepared pan.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes and cool completely before cutting into squares.

Oatmeal Toffee Cookies

I seriously owe my friend Claire some cookies, so I thought I would make cookies I have already made her before that she loved. The mix of oatmeal, toffee, and coconut makes a moist, crispy, and tasty cookie. The pecans I added also add a nice crunch.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

½ cup softened butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cups all-purpose flour

The batter for these cookies is especially good.

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon fine salt

1 ½ cups quick-cooking oats

½ cup sweetened coconut

1 cup (a little less) toffee bits

½ cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Heat the oven to 375°F and lightly grease cookie sheet

Beat butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. One well blended, add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. 


Stir in the coconut, oats, toffee bits and pecans. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto your prepared sheet. 


Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

These weren’t able to leave my house without a few missing/eaten…oops.

This recipe makes about 24 cookies.

PB Graham Chocolate Squares

Yesterday we had no school on account of the torrential rain the night before that inundated the entire town. Literally, I went for a run and I fell in a newly formed lake of water in the middle of the road that went past my belly button. The power even went out on Sunday, and it got me thinking of no bake recipes (recipes that don’t require an oven). Since peanut butter and chocolate is a classically good combination, I decided to make no bakes with that in mind.

Recipe:

Ingredients

¾ plus ½ cups peanut butter, divided

Action Shot!

6 tablespoons softened butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 2/3 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup plus ¾ cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Grease an 8 by 8 inch baking pan. Beat ¾ cup peanut butter and the butter in a large bowl until creamy. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar. Afterwards, mix in the graham cracker crumbs and 1/3 cup of the chocolate chips. Press this mixture evenly onto the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Making sure to smooth the top.

Melted chocolate before hardened

Melt the last ½ cup peanut butter and ¾ cup chocolate chips on low heat in a saucepan. Stir constantly until the whole mixture is smooth. Then, spread this mixture evenly over the mixture already in the pan. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour until chocolate if firm.

Cut into bars and store in a container in the refrigerator. 

S'Mores Cookies

I was planning on making my friend birthday cookies a while ago (well obviously in the month of her birthday) and I totally messed up and told her I promised I would make her some. Well now its been about 4 months, but I didn’t forget my promise! She has the taste buds of about a seven year old so I thought that s’mores cookies would be perfect. I adapted my recipe from http://www.cookiemadness.net/2006/02/smores-cookies and did a couple tweaks to make them spread less and instead be more like softer balls of dough after baking the cookies.

Hopefully my friend thinks they were worth the wait.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 ½ sticks cool room temperature
 butter

½ cup granulated sugar


¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract


½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda


1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup graham cracker crumbs


1cups semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup miniature marshmallows

2 Hershey Bars, broken into pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and grease two cookie sheets.

Cream butter and both sugars together and then beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in the salt and baking soda until well blended. Once this mixture is well mixed, mix in the flour and then graham cracker crumbs. Finally, Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets, spacing them each about 3 inches apart.

Bake for 8-9 minutes. Remove & quickly press marshmallows & chocolate in. Return to oven and cook until done (about 3 or 4 minutes).

Just like toasting marshmallows over a fire

A much more portable version of the campfire classic.

Ultimate Chocolate Oreo Cookies

Cookies in cookies, what could be bad about that?

So I still have lots of oreo cookies left from my trip so I needed to come up with another recipe to use them up because I wasn’t going to have had to lug a ton of oreos in my bag across the ocean for nothing.

I have therefore invented my own recipe, combining the great tastes of oreos and white chocolate with a hint of espresso, yummm.

Hope you enjoy!

 

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups flour

½  teaspoon salt

½  teaspoon baking soda

½  cup butter

¾ cup white sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon instant espresso

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

½ cup white chocolate chunks

8 oreo cookies, chopped

Directions:

It's best to fold in the oreos so they
aren't crushed into too tiny bits.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a baking sheet or use parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugars until well blended. Then, add the egg and vanilla until everything is mixed.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and instant espresso. Slowly add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until well combined. Afterwards, fold in the chopped oreos and white chocolate chunks.

Scoop the dough into balls on the greased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let the cookies cool for about 3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Hungry now?

I was worried that they turned out dry and crumbly, but I was happily proven wrong.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

Yesterday I was at Starbucks with my friend and she asked for a slice of pumpkin bread. I looked at it and said, “hey I bet I can make pumpkin bread that tastes better and is better for you than that.” My friend was glad to hear this remark because she knew it meant I would try it out and give her some, and since I don’t want to do any homework, that’s exactly what I did!

So here you go, a healthy version of pumpkin bread that doesn’t compromise health for taste.

Recipe:

Getting every last drop
out of the honey.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsalted melted butter

¼ cup honey

½ cup plus 2 ½ tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 eggs

1 ½ cups pumpkin puree

1 ¾ cup white whole wheat flour

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:

A clever is perfect to chop up nuts.

Preheat the oven to 325°F and lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk these dry ingredients together and set aside. In another large bowl, combine the melted butter, canola oil, honey, and ½ cup of the brown sugar and beat until well mixed. Add the eggs and lightly beat and finally mix in pumpkin and vanilla. Slowly add in the flour mixture until combined. Stir in the chopped nuts last.

Crumble the brown sugar evenly
over the entire top layer.

Pour the batter into the greased pan, and tap the bottom so that the batter evens out. Take the last 2 ½ tablespoons of brown sugar and sprinkle it over the top of the batter.

Place the pan into the oven for 55 to 65 minutes.

Remove, and let cool before slicing.

If you don’t give the bread enough time to cool, then your slices will have no chance of coming out even.

The brown sugar on top is a perfect crumble, and especially perfect for people who love the texture of the muffin tops (and by that I don’t mean the rolls coming out on top of your pants).