Tea Party Cookies!

It's time for a tea party.

I ordered a 3 pack of tea cookie cutters from amazon, thanks Wilton! I got a teapot, a teacup and a muffin. I decided to make sugar cookies and decorate them a bit :) 

Recipe

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

*I used orange*

2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cup granualted sugar

*I used dark brown sugar*

1 Egg

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat Oven to 400°F. Cream the butter with sugar in a mixing bowl until it's light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg along with the vanilla and orange or almond extracts.

Add the flour and salt one cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Do not chill the dough and divide into two. On a floured surface roll out each ball. Make sure to cover the cookie cutters in flour before using. 

Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 6-7 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned.

A tea and chocolate filled Valentine's day!

Baking up a storm. 

I decided to make a bunch of heart shaped treats for my family this valentine's day. I used silicone baking cups to make the mini heart shaped brownies. Marshalls provided an excellent decorating tool! I used all sorts of sprinkles and shapes. Check out what I made!

For breakfast I made my sweetheart some loving breakfast :) 

I went with a group of couples to Max Brenner's chocolate bar after dinner and had the most delicious treats! I tried a white chocolate chai tea which is essentially chai tea with white chocolate ganache. Although I'm not a huge fan of white chocolate this tea was so delicious. I highly suggest it!

The cutest superbowl sweet treats

Football shaped brookies. 

Oh my. Do you ever have trouble choosing between cookies and brownies? Brookies are here to save the day! 

Check out yet another amazing recipe from A Cozy Kitchen! Am I a fan girl? Kinda. Yes. 

After putting a mound of batter on the parchment paper I simply took my fingers and shaped it into a football. Not to worry, the batter isn't as solid as you'd like but even if the shape looks messy they still come out pretty well!

I let these cool completely before taking some store bought icing (I know shame on me) and made little football designs. 

These are super rich, sweet and delicious!

The Superbowl wouldn't be complete without plenty of beer! Flying Dog is a local MD brewery and they just keep knocking it out of the park with their new beers! These two were exceptionally good.

Send me a comment with your favorite superbowl treat or drink!

Miso White Chocolate Chip Cookies - Baking Failure

Sometimes I fail. 

I took an interest in baking back in middle school. At the start, I failed all the time. I soon discovered that baking is a lot like chemistry, you have to be precise. There is a reason to add baking soda versus baking powder or both etc. Once I got the hang of it I usually did well, except last night. EPIC FAIL :)

The last time I remember messing up was making my mom a raspberry torte. It was an extremely complicated recipe and I did not bake the genoise correctly, it was delicious but it was no genoise. 

I had come across A Cozy Kitchen's miso white chocolate chip recipe and was intrigued. Not really a fan of white chocolate but in cookies it's usually YUM. I have also never baked with miso before. The recipe was simple enough but in the process of baking I messed up. 

The bottom of the cookies kept burning. Thankfully the batter was a large batch so that I could experiment. Here is what I tried and what finally worked. 

-First I tried doubling up on the parchment paper...burned bottoms

-I tried lowering the oven temp to 300 from 350 and bake the cookies for 10 minutes instead of 12...burned bottoms

-I kept the above changes and moved the baking rack down a notch. This was the closest I got so far, the bottoms were browned instead of burned but the cookies weren't the right shape. 

-FINALLY, on my last batch I increased the size of the balls I was putting on the sheet and flattened them a bit. I checked them after 8 minutes and left them in for 9 total I believe. They finally came out right, on the last batch :( 

Of course it was frustrating to fail so many times but humbling as well. I took a few pictures to show you the process and difference in cookies!

The ones on the right were still yummy yummy but a bit too browned. 

Lesson learned. 

Cardamom spiced Flourless cake.

Winter storm Jonas 2016 baking. 

The east coast was hit by a blizzard this weekend and in Takoma Park we got a bit over 2 feet!

My boyfriend and I bravely went outside in an attempt to dig out our cars (which were completely buried) while it was still snowing. We gave up and I came in and started searching for a recipe!

I went back through Bake and found a flourless cake recipe which was perfect because I didn't have a lot of flour. 

Here's the recipe!

Basically, you melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler first. If you don't have a double boiler you can easily make one. I used a pot of hot water and placed a sauce pan on top, worked perfectly. 

In a separate bowl you mix all the other ingredients together. Once the melted chocolate and butter has cooled for 10 minutes you mix them together. 

If you don't have parchment paper I buttered a cake pan (or you can use spray) and the cake came out nicely. 

This recipe says to bake for and hour and 10 minutes at 325 but I would check it before hand. I think mine was cooked through at about 40 minutes!

My cake came out a little broken but it was still delicious! I think what happened is that the pan I was using was a bit too small. My boyfriend, sister, brother in law and I ate this with whipped topping. The cake is very rich so don't forget to pour yourself a glass of tea !

NOTE: I ground the cardamom by hand and the smells brought back memories of my childhood. It was so wonderful. We used to eat this hard candy Ahb-Nabat and it had cardamom seeds in it. So cool how this smell reminded me of that memory. 

Freshly ground cardamom.

Cardamom candy!

Cinnamon Swirl Muffins

Cinnamony swirl goodness. 

I was looking in my bake magazine and found a recipe for muffins! 

I didn't have pecans so I used walnuts. I didn't have buttermilk so I combined one teaspoon of lemon juice with almond milk. 

Check out the ingredients below!

Preheat oven to 425. 

Combine the baking powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl combine the sugar and butter. Once that's light and fluffy add the eggs and vanilla. Alternate mixing in the dry mixture and the buttermilk. 

Making the topping mixture with sugar, cinnamon and pecans (or walnuts). 

Fill the baking cups half way then spoon in some of the toppings mixture. Fill in the rest of the batter then take a toothpick shaped tool and swirl the ingredients. Top off everything with the cinnamon sugar mixture. 

Bake for 5 minutes then lower heat to 350 and bake for about 20 - 30 minutes. 

Let cool on a wire rack. 

DEVOUR. 

Chai Spice Snicker doodles

Chai Spice. 

Move over pumpkin spice....Chai spice is here to take over! 

If you're a fan of chai tea or anything with spices ...you're in for a treat! I'm a huge fan of A cozy Kitchen and her recipes! I saw this recipe for chai snicker doodles and I had to try it!

I substituted some of these ingredients but Ill give you the original recipe. These turned out delicious and spicy! These were wonderful with tea. 

When this is baking your whole house fills up with the smell of cardamom, cloves and cinnamon! 

Tip: keep an eye on these so they don't burn. If you like cookies to be chewy, I would take them out a minute or two early! 

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and warm
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of cardamom

Bake these babies:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice and pepper.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, add the sugar, cream cheese and butter. Beat until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the oil. Add the egg, milk and vanilla extract untiled combined and smooth. Add the flour in two additions.

Mix together the topping ingredients (sugar, cinnamon, cardamom). Roll the dough into balls and roll in the topping then place on the baking sheet. Flatten the cookies then sprinkle  some of the toppings on each cookie. 

Bake the cookies for 11 to 12 minutes.  

One pound chocolate brownies

So chocolate, much rich. 

I recently got a wonderful baking magazine with a lot of different recipes. I wanted to try something simple, then I stumbled upon a brownie recipe!

Recipe

• (2) 4 oz 70% Cacao bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/3 cup orange marmalade (I used fig jam which worked fine)
• 1/3 cup half and half
• 2 1/4 cup sugar ( I used packed brown sugar)
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• (2) 4 oz 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a 13 X 9 inch pan with parchment paper or grease with butter. 

Using a double boiler or having one pot on top of the other melt the chocolate and butter together. Once this is smooth, remove it from heat and add marmalade as well as half and half. 

In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Add in the chocolate mixture as well as the vanilla. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Bake for about 30 minutes and cool before cutting!

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Walnut Snowballs

Cure those winter blues.

These are my stepdad's favorite cookie so I decided to make a big batch of them for him for Christmas! They are from Special Desserts by Ann Amernick.   

• 1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 1/3 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350. You should line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, I just used a greased sheet which also worked fine. 

Cream the butter and sugar together then stir in the vanilla and walnuts. 

Sift together the baking powder and flower. Add in the dry mixture in thirds mixing with a rubber spatula after each addition. Form small walnut sized balls and bake for 15 minutes. The snowballs should be set but not browned. Let the snowballs cool then cover them in confectioner's sugar. 

Voila! 

GF Chocolate Crinkles

Let me start of by saying that I am fortunate enough to not have a dietary restriction such as gluten intolerance but some do! I went to a Christmas party on Saturday and the host cannot have gluten so I decided to look up a recipe for a gluten free holiday cookie. 

Apparently Betty Crocker has a whole line of gluten free products and recipes. Before you judge, take a look at these bad boys...

Check out the recipe: 

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used apple sauce)
• 4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted, cooled
• 2 cups granulated sugar (I used packed dark brown sugar)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups Bisquick™ Gluten Free mix
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Normally I like to bake completely from scratch and am against boxed mixes but because this was an experiment I followed the recipe. I got the Bisquick Gluten Free mix from target, it was a bit pricey although there is a promo code now where if you spend $10 you get $3 off! 

You start off by mixing the apple sauce, sugar, vanilla and melted baking chocolate together. Then mix in the eggs one at a time making sure it is evenly distributed. Pour in the mix and make sure you scrape the bottom so there isn't any mix left. The recipe says to refrigerate for at least 3 hours, I only had an hour and it was fine. I would suggest longer because it will make the powdered sugar  step easier. 

Next take a teaspoon or tablespoon and roll little balls dunking them in powdered sugar. I poured powdered sugar in a bowl and this made it easy to cover it completely. Place on a baking dish that is oiled in some way or on parchment paper. Bake 10-12 minutes. This time will depend on how big you made the cookies.  

Let these cool before you try them! I would say that these are good however they are a bit cakey and I know that's not everyone's cup of tea. Enjoy!