Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! We had a spanish FIESTA in my Spanish class today in honor of this famous "Mexican battle"! My teacher brought in her indoor grills, and made us ALL cheese quesadillas, and we had chips and dip, and more great mexican food.

I brought dessert! I made Martha's Mexican Wedding Cookies, as well as her Tres Leches Cake.

Everyone loved them! Even my spanish teacher( who i'm CONVINCED totally does NOT like me) gave me so much praise! Yay for mexican food!!

Mexican Wedding Cookies

from Martha Stewart's Cookie Book

1 cup whole blanched almonds, plus 40 more

for decorating

2 cups plus 2 tblsp. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup(2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.

2 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 large egg white, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread 1 cup almonds on baking sheet, toast until fragrant, about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to bowl and set aside to cool.

2. Place almonds, flour, salt, and cinnamon in food processor, process until nuts are finely chopped, about 1 minute.

3. Beat butter and 1 cup confectioners' sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add vanilla and almond extracts; beat until combined. Add chopped-almond mixture; beat on low speed until dough just comes together.

4. Roll dough into 20 1 1/2 inch balls; place on 2 clean baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly.

5. Place 40 remaining whole almonds and 1 tblsp. beaten egg white in small bowl. toss to coat. press 2 almonds into top of each cookie.

6. bake cookies until lightly browned around edges, about 25 minutes, rotating halfway through. transfer sheets to wire rack; let rest until cookies are cool enough to handle.

7. place remaining 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar in a fine mesh sieve. sift sugar over cookies, reserving any remaining sugar. return cookies to baking sheet. let them cool 15 minutes, and coat with sugar again.

I apologize for the horrible pictures, but i forgot my camera today!

But that's the sliced cake, with one of my cookies.

My plate..haha I like chips =P

Here's the recipe for Martha's Tres Leches Cake.

Hope everyone has a great Cinco de Mayo!

Olay!!

Cookies Cookies COOKIES !

I love cookies. Who doesn't? I don't think i'd trust a person that doesnt like cookies.

My family got invited to a dinner party the other night, and since it was a nice,

casual dinner, i thought i'd go with a casual dessert.

I decided on these Oreo Chunk chocolate chip cookies from Cookie Madness.

And Martha Stewarts Oatmeal Raisin cookies from her cookie book.

BOTH these cookies were amazing, and everyone at the party totally DEVOURED

them. If you're looking for easy cookie recipes, these are them for sure.

Oreo Chunk Chocolate Chip Cookies

from Cookie Madness

6 oz butter, softened

1/2 cup plus 2 tblsp granulated sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 tblsp light brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla 

1 large egg

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

6-8 oreos, broken into thirds or fourths

 pre-heat oven to 350.

cream butter and both sugars, Beat in the vanilla and egg. Add soda, salt, baking powder, cream of tartar, and beat well to ensure the baking powder is well-distributed. Add the flour and stir until it's absorbed. Stir in the chocolate chips and cookies.

Using heaping tablespoon, drop cookies 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Makes about 2 dozen.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

from Martha Stewarts Cookies

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup plus 2 tblsp all purpose flour

1/2 cup toasted wheat germ

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup(2 sticks) butter, room temp.

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup raisins

1. preheat oven to 350.Stir together oats, flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.

2. put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 min. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. add oat mixture; mix until just combined. mix in raisins.

3. using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly.

4. bake until golden and just set, about 14 minutes, rotating halfway through. let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 min. let cool completely.

ENJOY!

Valentines Treats

Sadly, I have no valentine. But luckily, my girlfriends and I had a MUCH better night.

I threw a little party at my house including dinner, and I of course supplied the desserts!

I made Dorie Greenspans chocolate cupcakes, and I also made Red velvet cupcakes as well.

Those got DEVOURED quite fast.

I also whipped up a batch of Martha Stewart's Oreo cookies from her Cookie book.

I tinted the creme filling pink in honor of Valentines Day !

These were a BIG hit. Whenever I make them, they always go FAST. And they definitely did.

Cream-filled Chocolate Sandwiches

from Martha Stewarts Cookie book

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened dutch cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups sugar, plus more for flattening cookies

10 tblsp butter, room temp

1 large egg. room temp

Vanilla creme(recipe follows)

1. preheat oven to 375 F. Into a bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 min. Add egg; beat to combine. with mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture; continue beating until dough it well combined.

3.using a 1 1/4inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart. dip bottom of a glass in sugar; press to flatten cookies about 1/8 inch thick.

4. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are firm, 10-12 minutes. rotating sheets halfway through. transfer baking sheets to wire rack to cool completely.

5. Place cream filling in a pastry bag. Place 1 tblsp filling onto flat side of half the cookies. place remaining cookies on top, and gently press on each to squeeze filling to edges.

Vanilla cream filling

1/2 cup butter, room temp

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, room temp.

3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1 tblsp vanilla extract

With an electric mixer, cream butter and shortening until well combined. on low speed, gradually add confectioners sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 2 min. add vanilla and beat to combine. set aside at room temp until ready to use.

Hope everyone had a great Valentines day!

Chocolate Chip Toffee Coconut Cookies

I was craving cookies, but I didnt want to make A LOT. So I started searching for a small batch recipe, when I found this recipe from Cookie Madness. 

The original recipe had pecans in it, but since I wasn't really feeling in the whole nut mood, I substituted toffee bits instead.

She also said to make these tablespoon sized, and get 12 large cookies. I scooped mine teaspoonfuls at a time, and got smaller cookies. Soo whatever floats your boat, it's up to you.

These cookies definitely satisfied my cookie craving, and I will be making these again for sure.

Small batch Chocolate chip Toffee Coconut Cookies

Adapted from Cookie Madness

1 cup AP flour

1/4 t plus 1/8 t baking soda

1/4 scant t salt

5 T plus 1 t unsalted butter

6 T brown sugar

6 T granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2 t vanilla

1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup coconut

2/3 cups toffee bits

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheet w/ parchment paper.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and both sugars in mixing bowl; add egg and vanilla, beat until well blended. 

With a mixing spoon, stir in flour mixture, followed by chocolate, coconut, and toffee.

Drop dough by generously rounded teaspoons onto cookie sheets. Press rounds into circles using your palms.

Bake cookies for 15 minutes or until they appear set and brown around the edges.

**Mine only needed 13-14 minutes cause I like my cookies soft, and chewy.

Enjoy !

TWD:Rugelach "Bars"

So this week's TWD was chosen by Piggy of Piggy's cooking journal and I wanted to thank her for choosing this scrumptious recipe.

As you can probably see from the pictures, I(with help from the lovely Martha Stewart) decided to turn the traditional Rugelach "cresent"s into Rugelach BARS, or "fingers."

I followed Dories recipe ingredients, but slightly adapted them to fit Martha's directions for the bars. They were SO incredibly easy to make! The only long-ish part was that the dough had to be chilled for a little, but besides that, not time-consuming and VERY easy.

Sadly, we didn't have currants in my house, soo I substituted raisins instead, and they still turned out amazingg. I highly recommend trying this recipe, as I do with EVERY other Dorie recipe, if you're looking for great Rugelach.

Be sure to check out all the other TWD bakers for their lovely Rugelach(es)...?!

TWD: Chocolate Chunkers

It's tuesday, and you know what that means...another fabulous recipe from Dorie.

Claudia of Fool For Food suggested these addicting chocolate cookies this week, and I am SO glad she did.

I kind of have a bad addiction to ANY type of chocolate cookie, I dont know why, but something about that dark, rich, dense, chocolaty flavor just makes my mouth water! And you'll ALWAYS find me first in that cookie jar whenever they're around.

These cookies were absolutely amazing! And they weren't hard to make at all. Just throw in a bunch of chocolate, some nuts, and raisins, and your done!...they're also very versatile so you can basically put any type of mix in, in them.

All in all, I very much enjoyed these cookies, and so did my family, and friends who I shared them with as well! 

Dorie's done it once again!

Mmm, chocolaty goodness =]]

TWD: Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

I'm back!...after a 2 week vacation to NYC, and another short break, it's finally time to get back to baking.

I was very excited when I saw that this weeks TWD, chosen by Stefany of Proceed with caution, was cookies. A nice, easy way to ease back into things. 

These cookies were SO extremely easy, and required a lot of ingredients you'd have on hand.

I really liked the peanut butter combo with the oatmeal, and chocolate chunks, and these made my house smell absolutely delish!

Make sure to check out the other cookies, and see what all the other 200+ bakers did!

Chewy White Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies

I LOVE chocolate cookies...something about a chewy, rich, ultra-chocolate-y cookie just makes my mouth waterrrrr.

Another big obsession of mine, is white chocolate. 

So when I saw these cookies from Picky Palate I knew I HAD to try them.

They really remind me of an oreo cookie-like flavor, and are a HUGE crowd pleaser, if you ask me.

If you're a chocolate cookie, and white chocolate fan, I strongly recommend trying these out!

Chewy White Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies

from Picky Palate

1 3/4 cup flour

1 1/4 cup cocoa powder( Hershey's dark chocolate cocoa powder)

1 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup butter

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease cookie sheet(I used a silpat liner)

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Add the salt and vanilla.

3. In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda and gradually add to the creamed mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet.

4. Bake for 8-10 minutes until fluffy, but still soft. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

ENJOY!!

The "ultimate" cookie cake...

YUMMMM, cookie cake. Who doesn't like cookie cake?? I mean come ONNNN. But this is seriously the ULTIMATE, 5 layers, with cream cheese frosting, GIANT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE CAKE! "Droooooool."

That was the expression when I brought this out at a little summer kick off, pool party I had the other day. My friends couldn't believe this thing, jaw's dropped while I was cutting slices...trying not to ruin each slice as I cut through all 5 LAYERSS. 

This recipe is definitely a keeper, and I'll be making this again.

The recipe's from no other than the Martha Stewart blog, and while I was browsing it, looking for something to make for the party, my eye instantly went straight to it. Who can resist layersss of chewy, chocolate chip cookies, with cream cheese frosting as the glue to hold it all together. Just pure YUMMINESS.

Ingredients 

serves 16

*to make an even circle of batter, trace an 8 inch 

on the underside of the parchment paper.

4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

6 tbs. unsalted butter, softened 

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

3/4 cups granulated sugar

3 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks

3/4 cup heavy cream

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

40 ounces (5 packages) cream cheese, room temp.

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Put butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugars into mixer bowl; mix on medium until pale and fluffy.  Mix in vanilla, eggs, and yolks. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with cream.  Stir in chocolate chips.

2. For each of the 5 layers, drop one level cup batter onto center of a baking sheet, lined with parchment (keep unbaked dough refrigerated.) Using a small offset spatula, spread into an 8 inch circle.* Bake until edges are pale golden brown, about 12 minutes. Use offset spatula to reshape circle. Return to oven, bake until edges are golden brown, 8-10 minutes more. Transfer to wire rack, let cool. Can be stored airtight, up to one day.

3. Mix cream cheese, and confectioners sugar in clean mixer bowl on medium-high, until pale and fluffy. Spread onto 4 cookies. Stack cookies, placing unfrosted cookie on top. Refrigerate until frosting is set, at least 20 minutes, or up to 4 hours. Serve at room temp.

This turned out verrrry good. And it was gone by the end of the day.