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Caramel Apple Sandwich Cookies

September 18, 2012 No Comments

I love fall. Hands down, my favorite season. Leaves turning colors, cooler temps and oh yeah, APPLES. Gorgeous apples from local orchards around town have been showing up at our farmer’s market lately. I absolutely love, love, love apple recipes. As kids, my sister and I knew that fall meant apple picking (can I just say there is nothing like a golden delicious apple right off the tree) and then of course BAKING with those apples. My mom would always make her German Apple Cake (which is still one of my favorite desserts) and an apple crisp! There was nothing like warm apple crisp right out of the oven with a big scoop of cold vanilla ice cream. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Yum.

So I wanted to do something just a little different and thought these Caramel Apple Sandwich Cookies totally fit the bill. I will say that these cookies are divine by themselves but sandwich them with caramel cream cheese frosting and wow, takes it to a whole other level! You could also sub the apples with raisins, craisins, white chocolate chips, nuts…this is just a very solid oatmeal cookie! Promise, you’ll love it!

Enjoy!

Original recipe by Taste of Home.

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Caramel Apple Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients

Chewy Apple Oatmeal Cookies

1 c. Unsalted Butter, softened
1 c. Packed Brown Sugar
½ c. White Sugar
2 Eggs
2 t. Pure Vanilla Extract
2 c. All-Purpose Flour
2 t. Ground Cinnamon
⅛ t. Ground Cloves
⅛ t. Nutmeg
⅛ t. Allspice
½ t. Salt
3 c. Old-Fashioned Oats
1 c. Chopped, Dried Apples
1 c. Chopped Granny Smith Apple (one large apple should be enough)

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

¼ Stick Unsalted Butter, softened
2 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
⅛ t. Salt
1 t. Pure Vanilla Extract
1¾ c. Powdered Sugar
3 T. Caramel Sauce (I used Smuckers brand)

Instructions

For the Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time and then vanilla. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, baking soda, salt and oats. Gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chopped apples.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating pans and switching racks halfway through. Let cool for two minutes before moving to wire racks and let cool completely.

For the Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the salt and vanilla. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar and then the caramel sauce.

To Assemble the Cookies

Spread 1-2 tablespoons of the frosting on the flat side of a cookie and place another cookie on top.

Notes

Makes 16 cookie sandwiches or 32 cookies.

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Cookie, Desserts, Gluten-Free, Healthy, Recipes

Quinoa Coconut Macaroons

August 21, 2012 No Comments

I made macaroons for the first time not once, but TWICE a couple of weeks ago. And that’s macaroons, not macarons (which I love dearly). There is sometimes confusion as to which is which, so this article might help clear things up for you if you are not sure on the differences. Not saying you don’t know because I am certain my blog readers are dessert aficianados and semi-experts on all things sweet, but just in case…

Ok. Back to the macaroons. With two o’s.

The first version of macaroon I made was the healthified Quinoa Coconut Macaroon. Totally yummy. Could eat all of them in one sitting. They are decidedly not like a regular macaroon but they are delicious nonetheless. Jeremy even liked them and he despises coconut (so sad). I like that they have protein from the quinoa. Isn’t it amazing what you can put quinoa in?! Of course, I had to add a bit of pure vanilla and almond extract. Makes all the difference, in my opinion.

Later this week I’ll have a little blog post about my sister’s baby shower and the fun, themed dessert table I got to do which included the typical macaroons, along with the recipe!

Enjoy!

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Quinoa Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients

6 T. Egg Whites (I used 3 large eggs for this)
¼ c. Light Agave (or honey)
1½ c. Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
1 c. Cooked Quinoa (I used quinoa cooked in light, organic coconut milk for even more coconut flavor)
1 t. Pure Vanilla Extract
½ t. Pure Almond Extract
Pinch of Salt

Instructions

Combine the egg whites and agave in a small saucepan. Over very low heat, whisk the eggs and agave until creamy and warm. Heating the eggs will temper them which will create a nice, crispy cookie exterior. Test with your finger--if they are warm to the touch, they are tempered.
Put the quinoa, coconut and salt in a large bowl and mix in the egg and agave mixture. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts. Chill in the fridge for at least two hours.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using a small ice cream scoop or melon baller, scoop the mixture onto the baking sheet. I actually used a 2 Tablespoon measuring spoon and pressed the mixture VERY firmly against the side of the bowl as I scooped it out and then knocked it against the pan quickly and firmly to get the mixture out. If it starts to fall apart a bit, press it together with your fingers otherwise it will not stick together while baking.
Bake in the center of the oven for 15 minutes until the cookies are nice and golden brown. Let them cool for at least 10 minutes or until completely cool. Store in an air-tight container.

Notes

Makes 16 cookies.

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Bars, Cheesecake, Cookie, Cupcakes, Desserts, Ice Cream

Crazy About Key Lime

August 9, 2012 No Comments

After making my Key Lime Pie last week, I was inspired to search out some more key lime recipes. I just love the tart and sweet combination so much! Any of these would make a great summertime treat…enjoy!

Key Lime Bars

Key Lime Buttercream Frosting

Key Lime Cheesecake

Key Lime Coconut Cupcakes

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream

Key Lime Shortbread Cookies

Key Lime Tarts

Bread, Cake, Cookie, Desserts, Gluten-Free, Healthy, Muffins, Recipes

Baking with Zucchini

July 13, 2012 1 Comment

Hi friends! To follow up my majorly delicious (and healthy!) zucchini bread recipe, I thought I’d share even MORE recipes for baking with zucchini! Just in case your garden overfloweth like so many people I know. If you see more than you can bake at the moment, not a problem! Just freeze your grated zucchini and thaw it out at a later time. And I’ve included a mix of healthy and not-so-healthy recipes so there are options for everyone!

Chocolate-Cinnamon Swirled Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Swirled Zucchini Bread — Chocolate-Cinnamon Swirled Zucchini Bread by Bittersweet Blog

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Vegan, Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Zucchini Muffins

Spiced Zucchini Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Zucchini Cookie Sandwiches

Zucchini Pineapple Cupcakes with Orange Sour Cream Frosting

Whole Wheat Zucchini Nut Muffins

Zucchini Cookies with Chocolate Chips and Dried Cranberries

Cookie, Desserts, Gluten-Free, Healthy, Recipes

Grain-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

June 29, 2012 No Comments

Healthy baking has come a looooong way. Especially in my kitchen. I remember back when I did most of my “healthy” baking and it consisted of mass amounts of whole wheat flour, Splenda (God forbid) and tons of egg whites. Thankfully, I now know what healthy really means….REAL ingredients that are not artificial, preservative laden bombs. And most of those recipes honestly, well, they weren’t that great. Let’s just leave it at that.

But the healthy recipes I’m finding nowadays are a whole other story. They are chocked full of nutritious and real ingredients. And I have yet to come across one I did not LOVE. Seriously. Such is the case with these cookies. I found the original recipe on the Texanerin Baking blog and only tinkered with it a bit. Ok, that’s a lie. The first time I made it I messed with the recipe ALOT and while I managed to create what could be considered the most amazingly delicious healthy peanut butter and chocolate chip fudge EVER, they didn’t quite bake up like a cookie. Not to say they weren’t good..just not very cookie like. So I tried the recipe again and stuck as close to the original as possible with only a few minor changes. And they. Were. Awesome.

Don’t let the beans throw you off…it’s amazing how great they work for gluten-free baking and meld seamlessly with the other ingredients. The first time I used beans for these Chocolate Cupcakes with Tart Cherry Frosting, I was highly skeptical, but the recipe turned out awesome and honestly it was one of the best chocolate cakes. In my opinion at least. So give beans a try in your baked goods! They add loads of protein and fiber which our bodies need!

Enjoy!

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Grain-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1½ c. (15 oz. can) Chickpeas, drained, rinsed and patted dry with paper towels
½ c., plus 2 T. All-Natural Peanut Butter (no oil, salt, sugar, etc)
¼ c., plus 2 T. Honey
1 t. Baking Powder (I use aluminum-free)
⅛ t. Salt (I use Pink Himalayan Sea Salt)
1 T. Pure Vanilla Extract
⅓ c. Chocolate Chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line one large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a food processor, blend together all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, until very smooth. Scrape the sides and top to get the small pieces of chickpeas and process again until smooth. Scrape into a medium size bowl and stir in the chocolate chips. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. Drop by large spoonfuls onto the baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Notes

Makes 14, 1½" cookies. Note: They are best to eat on the first day and are the most like a traditional cookie. The next day they are still yummy but the texture changes just a bit and they seem more like cookie dough.

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Bars, Cookie, Desserts, Recipes

Sugar Cookie Bars

May 9, 2012 4 Comments

If you’re like me and LOVE frosted sugar cookies but don’t have the patience for the whole rolling and cutting part, I have a solution! A completely delicious solution. I had seen recipes online for sugar cookie bars but all the ones I was finding called for an absurd amount of flour (5 cups!), etc and a huge baking pan that I didn’t have and there was no way I was going to go look for and buy one just for this recipe. So I played with the amounts of ingredients and am happy to report that I hit it out of the ball park on the first try! These sugar cookies are made in a 9×13 pan and are absolutely, incredibly, amazingly YUMMY. I love almond so I added that flavor. If you’re not an almond fan, feel free to substitute more vanilla extract. These bars and soft and slightly chewy and in my opinion perfect in every single way. To say I had a couple would be an understatement…but we won’t get into that.

Hope you love them as much as I did!

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Sugar Cookie Bars

Ingredients

Sugar Cookie Bars

1½ sticks Unsalted Butter
1½ c. Granulated Sugar
3 Eggs
1 T. Pure Vanilla Extract
1½ t. Almond Extract
3¼ c. All-Purpose Flour
¾ t. Salt
½ t. Baking Soda

Almond Buttercream

1½ sticks Unsalted Butter
3 t. Almond Extract
1½ t. Pure Vanilla Extract
3 c. Powdered Sugar
3 T. Heavy Whipping Cream (or milk)

Instructions

For the Sugar Cookie Bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg. Add vanilla and almond and mix well. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. And to butter/sugar mixture and beat until just combined. Spread into baking pan.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick/tester comes out clean (mine were done closer to 15 minutes). Cool completely and frost.

For the Almond Buttercream

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Add almond and vanilla extracts. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, then add heavy whipping cream and beat until smooth. Spread onto cooled sugar cookie bars.

Notes

Makes 18 bars.

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Brownie, Cake, Candy, Cookie, Desserts, Holiday, Pie

St. Patrick’s Day Desserts

March 8, 2012 No Comments

I have very fond memories of St. Patrick’s Day as a child. Especially if the day happened to fall on a schoolday. We didn’t get just any old lunch for that day…no, we got a lunch filled with GREEN. Yes, everything was covered in mold!!!! Ok, not really, that’s actually not true. My mom never fed us mold. Not knowingly at least. Anyway…I distinctly remember cottage cheese tinted with green food dye and shamrock sugar cookies with green frosting. So healthy, right? Oh who cares, we loved it and looked forward to it every year!

So, in honor of that fun tradition we had as kids, I found some green desserts for St. Patrick’s Day! Typically, when you think green and dessert, the first thing that comes to mind is mint. And I LOVE mint and chocolate combinations. But I’m sure not everyone is as fond of the flavor as I am so I found a couple more green ideas–pistachio and green tea! Green tea (or matcha) sounds a little strange but it is actually DELICIOUS in desserts. And these flavors lend themselves to the possibility of a bit more, shall we say, natural, green color.

Check ’em out!

Mint

Mint Brownies

Mint Oreo Truffles

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Grasshopper Cheesecake

Pistachio

Pistachio Bundt Cake

Cranberry Pistachio Cookies

Green Tea

Green Tea White Chocolate Cookies

Cookie, Desserts, Recipes

Amaretti Cookies

February 27, 2012 No Comments

I bet you thought I had forgot about my New Year’s resolution to make one International dessert a month but guess what?? I did not forget! As a matter of fact I made Brazo de Mercedes in January but things, shall we say, didn’t work out quite as I had planned. So we’ll come back to that another day. I’m still a little emotional about it.

I decided on Italian for February because, quite frankly, I REALLY wanted to make Amaretti cookies. The first time I had ever had them was when Jeremy and I visited Missouri Baking Company in St. Louis and I fell in love with the morsels of chewy almond goodness. I seriously think I have some kind of problem when it comes to almond-flavored things…meaning I have NO CONTROL over my hand and mouth. As I made the almond paste for this, my food processor had hardly had the chance to cool off before I starting shoving bites of the sweet almond mixture in my mouth. It was like an almond paste induced feeding frenzy. And then I remembered, “Wait! This has to go in a recipe!!”. Oh…yeah…the cookies. Almost forgot about them. Ahem.

I managed to gather myself and actually make the cookies. Go me. I wasn’t sure what recipe to use but I settled on this one from Smitten Kitchen. Her recipes always look so amazing and this is the first one I’ve actually made (I think). They turned out amazing…little crisp around the edges, majorly chewy and completely delicious. I did discover that the longer they sat, the softer they became which is usually totally opposite of how it is with baked goods of any kind. I made them on a Friday evening and by Monday they were still delicious. After Monday….well, I don’t know, because we ate them all!!

If you’re an almond lover such as myself, you MUST try these cookies immediately.

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Amaretti Cookies

Ingredients

Chewy Amaretti Cookies

1, 7 oz. (3/4 c.) Tube Pure Almond Paste (Found in the baking aisle or you can make your own..which is what I did. See recipe below.)
1 c. Granulated Sugar
Pinch of Salt
2 Large Egg Whites, at room temperature for at least 30 minutes

Almond Paste

¼ c. Granulated Sugar
6 T. Powdered Sugar
¾ c. Almonds (original recipe calls for blanched but I just use raw, whole almonds)
2 T. Light Corn Syrup
1¼ t. Pure Almond Extract

Instructions

For the Almond Paste

Process almonds, powder sugar and granulated sugar in a food processor until the nuts are very finely ground. Add corn syrup and almond extract and process until the mixture is thoroughly blended and moist enough to hold together when pressed in your hand. Form into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and an air-tight container until ready to use.

For the Cookies

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Pulse the almond paste, sugar and salt in a food processor until broken up, then add egg white and puree until smooth. Using a 2 t. measuring spoon, drop batter onto pans, about 2 inches apart. They will spread quite a bit so make sure there is plenty of room between the cookies. I got 8 on the pan.
Bake in the very center of the oven for 8 minutes, rotate pan and then bake for another 7 minutes. Let cool completely before removing from parchment paper. Store in an air-tight container.

Notes

Makes 25 cookies. TIP: To easily remove cookies from the parchment paper, gently push up on the cookie with your finger from underneath the parchment paper. It should peel away easily.

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Cookie, Desserts, Healthy, Recipes

Spicy Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

February 17, 2012 No Comments

A friend and I had been chatting about how much we love to cook and, like myself, she is into very healthy and nutritious cooking (I said COOKING..not BAKING). We’d often find ourselves at an event where we both brought homemade dishes and we’d be asking each other for the recipes at the end of the night, so we decided what better way to share our love of cooking and yummy recipes than start a gourmet cooking club?? So, our first official cooking club get together was this past January and it was SO fun! The food was all delicious and it gave me the opportunity to try out a new healthy dessert recipe–Spicy Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies!

My inspiration for these cookies was based off of one of my FAVORITE “healthy” indulgences from Trader Joe’s…cayenne covered dried mango dipped in dark, bittersweet chocolate. It is one of the best things to ever cross my lips and sadly, since we have no Trader Joe’s here in Springfield, MO, I’m not sure I’ll ever get it again! But I loved the combination so much I thought I’d try it in these cookies. Now the cookies themselves were absolutely WONDERFUL. They were soooo soft and tender and the heat from the red pepper combined with the bittersweet chocolate was out of this world! The only thing I didn’t like about this recipe was…the mango! It was such a bummer, but it just didn’t work for this cookie, in my opinion. So, I’d omit it for sure in the future and went ahead and wrote the recipe without it. But I’m not too upset about it–I still discovered an amazing, nutritious cookie recipe!

Recipe adapted from injennieskitchen.com

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Spicy Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 c. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
½ t. Baking Soda
½ t. Sea Salt
1 t. Cayenne or Ground Red Pepper
¼ c. (1/2 stick) Unsalted Butter, softened
¼ c. Pure Pumpkin Puree
¾ c. Sugar in the Raw
1 T. Molasses
2 Large Eggs, at room temperature
1 T. Pure Vanilla Extract
½ c. Dark Chocolate Chips (I used Ghirardelli 60% Bittersweet)

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda salt and pepper. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, molasses and pumpkin on medium-high speed until light and fluffy about 5-7 minutes. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Wrap dough in a large piece of plastic wrap, place in an air-tight container and refrigerate overnight (I refrigerated mine for about 24 hours).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
gently form dough into 1½-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 16 minutes, rotating pans once and switching racks halfway through. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Notes

Makes about 25 cookies.

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Cookie, Desserts, Recipes

Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies (aka homemade Oreos)

January 30, 2012 No Comments

I am not the craftiest. I have admitted this before but I just thought I’d state it again. So when I spied these dark chocolate sugar cookies online, I knew I would make them but needed to come up with a way to make them cute that didn’t involve royal icing and piping and such.

So behold, the chocolate sugar cookie sandwich! Also known as cutely shaped, cut-out homemade Oreos. Really freakin’ amazingly good, never-buy-store-bought-again, homemade Oreos. Yes, they are THAT GOOD. I just cut out about 14, 4-inch cookies and then cut smaller shapes out of the middle of half of them. If you don’t bake the small shapes like I did, you could reuse the dough and get about 16, 4-inch cookies. Which is what I’d do next time because the tiny ones didn’t turn out terribly cute. But tasty! And that’s what really matters, right??

Recipe courtesy of Sprinklesbakes.com

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Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies (aka homemade Oreos)

Ingredients

Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies (aka Homemade Oreos)

1 c. (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened
1 c. plus 2 T. Granulated Sugar
1 Egg
1 t. Pure Vanilla
2 c. plus 1 T. All-Purpose Flour
1 c. Dark Cocoa Powder
⅛ t. Salt

Buttercream Frosting

⅓ c. (5 T.) Unsalted Butter, softened
2 c. Powdered Sugar
3 T. Heavy Whipping Cream (or milk)
2 t. Pure Vanilla
½ t. Almond Extract (optional)

Instructions

For the Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until just incorporated. Do not over-mix at this stage or the cookies may spread while baking. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix on low speed, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl intermittently as needed.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Add to the butter and egg mixture. Mix on low speed until a dough is formed and there are no longer any streaks of butter in the mixing bowl. The dough will clump around the paddle attachment but that's ok, it's normal and a good sign your dough is the right consistency. With your hands, form the dough into a ball.
On a clean counter-top, roll out your dough to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes from the cookie dough and carefully transfer to your baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, rotating pans and switching racks halfway through to endure even baking. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Frost with frosting and decorate with sanding sugar, sprinkles, etc.

For the Buttercream Frosting

Beat butter, sugar and milk about 5 minutes. Beat in extracts.

Notes

Makes 16, 4-inch Sandwich Cookies. Tip: These cookies are best eaten within 24 hours or the same day they are made. They are still very good but not be quite as crisp the next day.

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Brownie, Cookie, Desserts, Snack

Sweets for Superbowl 2012

January 19, 2012 No Comments

Sometimes I make the mistake of doing, ahem, research for my blog when I’m hungry. And it never ends well. After looking at numerous varieties of desserts for this post, it was all I could do to not go into my kitchen, get a huge bowl of peanut butter, sprinkle it with dark chocolate chips and crushed graham crackers and call it dinner. But I didn’t! Instead, I had a sensible meal of garden lasagna (delicious!) and refrained from eating every bit of sugar in my house. Just a word of caution!

Any of these desserts would be GREAT for a Superbowl party. I tried to choose things that were fairly simply and not too labor intensive. After all, you’ve barely recovered from Christmas baking! I really don’t think you can go wrong with whatever recipe you choose–they’re all delicious. And next week I’ll have football themed desserts if you’re feeling a little more crafty with your baking…football shaped sweets are just too darn cute!

Brownies

The Baked Brownie

King Arthur Flour Brownie

S’mores Brownie

Caramel Coconut Pecan Brownies

Blondies

Peanut Butter Blondies

Fondue

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Fondue, Salted Caramel Pecan Fondue and Apple Cinnamon Fondue

Chocolate Orange Fondue

Mocha Fondue

White Chocolate Fondue

Dessert Pizza

Apple Pie Pizza

Sugar Cookie & Fruit Pizza

Banana Split Brownie Pizza

Rocky Road Cookie Pizza

Cookies

NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal Cookies

Butterscotch Gingerbread Cookies

Snickerdoodle Cookies

Peanut Butter Potato Chip Cookies

Monster Cookies

Turtle Cookies

Mudslide Cookies

Snack Mixes

Sweet and Salty Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Mix

Gluten-Free Popcorn, Cereal & White Chocolate Mix

Sweet & Spicy Mix

Maple Cinnamon Cereal Mix

Pumpkin Spiced Mix

Puppy Chow

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Popcorn

Cookie, Desserts, Recipes

Strawberry Cakies

January 16, 2012 1 Comment

Ooey Gooey Butter Cake…in cookie form. That’s what this little pink nugget of cookie goodness is. And it’s delicious. I typically am against cake mixes but it is a must in this cookie (until I can figure out how to make it from scratch, of course!). It’s soft and chewy all at the same time and bursting with strawberry flavor from the cake mix and tiny little pieces of dried strawberries. And they’re perfect for that holiday coming up…ya know, the one with hearts and cupid and all that.

Enjoy!

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Strawberry Cakies

Ingredients

½ c. (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, softened
1, 8 oz. Package Cream Cheese, softened
1 Large Egg
1 t. Vanilla
1 Box Strawberry Cake Mix
½-3/4 c. Finely Chopped Dried Strawberries
1 c. Powdered Sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Mix in the egg and vanilla thoroughly. Beat in the cake mix and then the dried strawberries. The mixture will be very sticky, but that's ok, it's nothing a little powdered sugar can't handle. Put powdered sugar in a bowl. Coat your hands in powdered sugar and pinch off some of the cookie dough, roll into a ball about 1" in diameter and dredge in the powdered sugar then place on the baking sheet. Keep using the powdered sugar to coat your hands in order to work with the dough. Place the balls about 2" apart on the baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, rotating and switching racks halfway through to ensure even baking. Let cool on pan for 2 minutes and move to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Notes

Makes 30 cookies.

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Cookie, Desserts, Healthy, Recipes

Whole Grain Strawberry Newtons

January 13, 2012 No Comments

Ok, I am so so so excited about this recipe for (healthy) homemade strawberry newtons! I had done a little research to see if there was anything that would make a good substitute for butter in cookies and let me tell you, the results were grim. So I went ahead and made this recipe that I had found online that was already altered to be healthy but still included butter. However, instead of using the butter I substituted a half cup pumpkin and 2 T. safflower oil. These cookies didn’t turn out horrible and were actually pretty good, but in all honestly they were more like a whole wheat pie crust with strawberry filling and nothing like a thick, cakey fig newton. Bummer.

So I decided the best place to start was with an unhealthy, regular ‘ole homemade newton recipe and I’d modify however I saw fit. I found this one from Serious Eats and went with it, although I was a little skeptical of a couple of things, such as putting the cookies hot out of the oven into an air-tight container in order to “age”. But I was proved wrong–these are phenomenal! I did leave half the butter in but replaced the other half with pumpkin…and I can’t believe it worked! These are low on sugar and full of whole grains, great for both adults and kids!

Enjoy!

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Whole Grain Strawberry Newtons

Ingredients

1½ c. White Whole Wheat Flour
¼ t. Fine Sea Salt
½ Stick Unsalted, All-Natural Butter, softened
¼ c. Pumpkin
¼ c. Sugar in the Raw
2 T. Honey
¼ t. Baking Soda
2 t. Pure Vanilla
⅛ t. Cinnamon
1 Large Egg plus 2 Egg Whites, room temperature
1 T. Orange Juice
1 c. All Fruit, No Added Sugar Strawberry Jam

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the butter, sugar, honey, baking soda, vanilla and cinnamon on medium speed until thoroughly mixed, about 5-7 minutes (it will still look runny and not fluffy, but that's ok!). Scrape down the sides with a spatula and continue mixing. With the mixer still running add the egg and mix thoroughly; add the egg white, one at each time, mixing throughly after each addition. Beat on high for two minutes. Turn the mixer on low and add the flour. Drizzle in the orange juice and continue mixing until thoroughly combined and dough is homogenous.
Prepare a large sheet of plastic wrap and use a rubber spatula to transfer the dough from the bowl to the center of the plastic. Wrap the dough with the plastic, place in an air-tight container and let firm up in the fridge for at least four hours or overnight (I left mine in for about 9 hours).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Dust your counter generously with flour and gently (press LIGHTLY) start to roll dough out into a large rectangle, about 12x16. Halfway through rolling, dust the surface of your dough generously with flour, flip and continue rolling. With a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 4 strips, about 3½ inches wide. Spoon 3-4 tablespoons of the strawberry jam down the middle of the dough, fold the edges over the filling and pinch to seal (make sure you seal them completely). Brush off any excess flour with a pastry brush. Place the dough strips on a the cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
As soon as the cookies are removed from the oven, use a sharp knife to trim each bar into several 1"long cookies. While the cookies are still warm, transfer them to an air-tight plastic container. If you need to stack the cookies, use parchment paper or foil between the layers. Seal the container tightly. This is done to slightly steam the cookies and give them the cake like texture..and it WORKS. Don't skip this step.

Notes

-Makes 25 cookies. -TIP: If you are worried about condensation after sealing the warm cookies (like I was), every 10 minutes or so wipe off the lid and inside edge of the container to prevent moisture.

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Cookie, Desserts, Holiday, Recipes

White Chocolate Cherry Cookies

January 9, 2012 No Comments

Well now that Christmas and New Year’s is behind us it’s on to the next holiday–Valentine’s Day! There are so many cute things to make and bake for Valentine’s Day it’s really hard to know how to choose or where to start. But, I had seen these cookies on Pinterest and the ingredients alone made me want to make them immediately. I have a thing for cherry-almond anything. And cute, pink baked goods.

Speaking of pink, you can’t make much for a holiday that is trademarked in pink and red without using UNGODLY amounts of dye. And these cookies are no exception to that but you could always omit the dye and bring in the color with the sprinkles and sugar…at least it cuts back on the unnatural ingredients a little.

These were supposed to be a shortbread cookie but the dough was so incredibly dry I just couldn’t resist adding more liquid, plus I wasn’t happy with the flavor and wanted to amp up the cherry and almond in it. They might not have quite the crumbly shortbread texture and actually more closely resemble a soft sugar cookie, but these cookies are AMAZING. Jeremy and I could have eaten them all and according to him they are the best cookie I’ve ever made and I never need to make him a birthday cake ever again, just these cookies. Done.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from BHG

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White Chocolate Cherry Almond Cookies

Ingredients

2½ c. All-Purpose Flour
½ c. Granulated Sugar
1 c. (2 sticks) Cold, Unsalted Butter
½ c. Maraschino Cherries, drained, squeezed (somewhat) dry with paper towels and finely chopped
11 oz. White Chocolate Chips
3 t. Almond Extract
½ t. Pure Vanilla
6 T. Cherry Juice, reserved from the maraschino cherries
Pink or Red Dye
Sprinkles, sanding sugar, etc for decor

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender or two forks (I actually prefer to use my fingers), cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in drained and chopped cherries and ⅔ cup of the white chocolate chips. Stir in the cherry juice, almond extract, vanilla and food dye. Knead the mixture a bit to get it into a more cohesive mass. Pinch off a chunk of dough and form a ¾-inch ball. Place on the cookie sheet and press down slightly with a drinking glass that has been dipped in granulated sugar.
Bake for 10-12 minutes (mine took 12 minutes exactly) or until the centers are set. Do not overbake. Cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
In a small bowl, melt the rest of the white chocolate in the microwave at 20-second intervals, stirring between each. Dip half the cookies in the melted white chocolate and decorate with sprinkles, sugar, etc. Place on foil and let dry completely.

Notes

For a thinner white chocolate coating, use use white chocolate candy melts. That's what I will use the next time.

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Brownie, Cake, Candy, Cheesecake, Chocolate, Cookie, Cupcakes, Desserts, Holiday, Ice Cream, Inspiration, Pie

New Year’s Eve Party Mini Desserts

December 27, 2011 1 Comment

I have been in love with mini desserts for years. They are just so darn cute and the fact that you don’t have to pick just ONE dessert but can in fact try several, due to their tiny size, is just awesome to me. I love them so much that I actually used to cater desserts and only did miniature sizes. It was so much fun and sometimes I really miss planning dessert tables for weddings or parties with loads of colorful, bite-size desserts! Thank goodness for the holidays when I can unleash my creative baking skills (obsession?) on all my family and friends!

So, I thought what would be better for a New Year’s Eve party than mini sweets?! Finger foods are VERY popular for New Year’s Eve parties and these desserts stay right with that theme. Some of these are super easy (2-3 ingredients), which is great since you have no doubt been in the kitchen waaaayyyy too much between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Also, another way to make easy miniatures is to bake up a normal 9×13 pan of brownies, blondies, cake, etc. and cut them small with a knife or fun-shaped, small cookie cutters or take any regular ‘ole cookie recipe and just make smaller than normal cookies (be sure to cook them for less time!). Ok, let’s check out some other awesome tiny goodies from around the blogosphere:

First up, Mini S’mores Cakes. How cute are these?! Get a lot more mini ideas from Delish here.

I LOVE baklava. Love it. It was the one thing I was looking most forward to indulging in over the Christmas holiday. I’ve actually made Baklava Cups before and they are super good and MUCH less labor intensive than the traditional way. See more ideas from Women’s Day here.

Mini Oreos. Yum.

Mini Ice Cream Cookie Pops. How fun! However, if you’re afraid of the ice cream melting before people can scarf them down, try it with buttercream frosting.

I love these Mini Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats. Rice Krispie treats are sooo classic and just plain good.

Banana Split Bites. Delicious and gorgeous.

Vanilla Bean Baby Doughnuts. Perfect after a night of imbibing.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. One of my favorites.

Poptarts on a stick. Totally awesome. AND easy.

These Chocolate Salted-Caramel Mini Cupcakes look soooo rich and decadent. Pure bliss.

Cut these yummy Red Velvet Brownies super small for bite-size treats.

These Lindt Mini Chocolate Trifles are adorable. Use some larger shot glasses for the cups and think about switching up ingredients…caramel sauce for the fudge, brownies for the cookies, etc.

I have been making Brownie Tassies forever. The only thing I do differently is top them with coffee buttercream and toasted, slivered almonds. People will go nuts over these.

Ummm, excuse me but this Chocolate Covered Bacon Caramel Popcorn is dangerous. Dangerous I tell you!! And I am SO going to make it.

These Mini Cherry Pies are just down right pretty. And begging to be eaten.

I love the playfulness of this Gumdrop Fudge. Very festive and party appropriate. Not to mention easy. We like easy!

Well, hopefully this gives you some inspiration for whatever crazy New Year’s party you may be hosting or attending. Tomorrow I’ll have my own recipe for Mini Doughnut Muffins!

Cake, Candy, Cheesecake, Chocolate, Cookie, Cupcakes, Desserts, Holiday, Ice Cream

A Candy Cane Christmas

December 20, 2011 2 Comments

Nothing is more symbolic of Christmas than a candy cane and peppermint has been one of my favorite flavors for as long as I can remember. I’ll never forget taking trips to see my Grandma who lived in Kansas City around the holidays and there was a little ice cream shoppe that had the most amazing hand-dipped candy cane ice cream. I could hardly stand the three-hour drive from Springfield to KC in anticipation of that peppermint, creamy, frozen goodness! Such a good memory.

So, I went searching for some awesome peppermint recipes and found so many, I almost didn’t know when to stop! But I did manage to stop and I have quite the selection to share with you! Not only are these desserts GORGEOUS but they are chocked full of peppermint goodness. Make one of these for your holiday gathering this weekend!

Layered Peppermint Cheesecake Cake

White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cheesecake

Peppermint Crunch Truffles

Peppermint Meringues

Peppermint Brownies

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Peppermint Whoopie Pies

Candy Cane Cake Pops

Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Cake

Chocolate Peppermint Roll with Chocolate Ganache

Peppermint Ice Cream

Peppermint Mocha Kahlua Truffles

Vanilla Peppermint Cupcakes

Chocolate, Cookie

Savannah Chocolate Chewies

December 12, 2011 1 Comment

There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of Savannah Chocolate Chewies. I didn’t know about them either until a few years ago and discovered them in one of my favorite cookie books, The All-American Cookie Book. I’ve never had a recipe in this book let me down and this one is no exception! I actually forgot about this recipe until recently and I am so glad I have rediscovered it! What I didn’t know a few years back is that this cookie is reminiscent of one of my favorite kinds of cookies today… the French macaron. These Savannah Chocolate Chewies are made primarily with egg whites and powdered sugar and end up forming a shiny “crust” as they bake, but the inside remains chewy and delicious. They are perfect for any holiday party you have ever the next few weeks and very simple to make, although beware of the baking time—16 minutes! But so worth the wait.

Enjoy!

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Savannah Chocolate Chewies

Ingredients

2 c. Chopped Pecans, toasted
2¼ c. Powdered Sugar
¼ c. plus 2 T. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 T. All-Purpose White Flour
⅛ t. Salt
3 Large Egg Whites
1 t. Pure Vanilla
1 oz. Bittersweet (not unsweetened) or Semi-Sweet Chocolate, grated (I just finely chopped 2 T. chocolate chips since I didn't have any bars)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly combine the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, flour and salt. On low speed, beat the egg whites, one at a time, into the powdered sugar mixture. Add the vanilla and beat for 1½ minutes on high speed, scraping down the sides several times. Fold in the pecans and chocolate until evenly incorporated.
Scoop the dough onto the cookie sheet by heaping spoonfuls, spacing about 2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in the middle of the oven for 15 to 18 minutes (mine took 16), or until dry on the surface but soft in the center when pressed. Reverse the sheet from front to back halfway through baking to ensure even browning. Let cookies cool on the sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack. Let cool completely.

Notes

Makes about 24 cookies.

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Candy, Cookie, Recipes

Edible Acorn Treats

November 23, 2011 No Comments

If you’re still searching for something sweet and kid-friendly to bring to the family gathering tomorrow, look no further! These little acorns have been popping up all over Pinterest lately and it’s not hard to see why–they are one of the easiest things to make! All you need are a 3-4 ingredients: regular semi-sweet chocolate chips, Hershey Kisses and miniature Nutter Butters. Melt a few chocolate chips until smooth and use that to adhere the Hershey Kiss and regular chocolate chip to the cookie. Or you could even use chocolate frosting as “glue”. It’s been done a few ways so whatever you think will work for you is fine! Have fun!

Acorn Nutter Butter Hershey — Photo courtesy of designsbymcm.blogspot.com

Bars, Cake, Chocolate, Cookie, Cupcakes, Desserts, Fruit, Healthy, Recipes

Healthy (yes, healthy!) Fall Inspired Desserts

November 9, 2011 No Comments

Believe it or not, there are some people on diets this time of year. Yes, DIETS, preparing/starving themselves for the two month long eat-o-rama that begins around mid-November and doesn’t stop until somewhere around the new year. I myself believe in moderation and balance and try to get plenty of exercise and eat an overall healthy diet (I definitely do NOT believe in starvation and “diet” trends). And I am most certainly planning on indulging during the holidays but in moderation.

So, for those more health-conscious readers out there like myself, I thought I would provide you with some healthy dessert options for you to bring to those family get-togethers. Some are most definitely more healthy than others; there are low-fat, low-calorie, high-protein, low-sugar, etc. Options! That’s what I’m all about. 🙂 I’ll definitely be testing a couple (the Date Bars and Honey-Almond Cake are calling my name!) to see if they are worthy of the upcoming family festivities. I’ll post my results!

Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies

Chocolate Accordion Bread

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Bundt Cake with Orange Glaze

Pumpkin Rice Pudding (Scroll a just over half-way down the page to see the recipe.)

Chocolate Cupcakes

Sunny Oat-Date Bars

Apple Dumpling Cinnamon Rolls

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Coconut Cookies

Flourless Honey Almond Cake

Pumpkin Sesame Cookies

Chocolate Torte

Cookie, Cupcakes, Desserts, Inspiration

Halloween Dessert Ideas

October 17, 2011 No Comments

Holiday parties are getting into full-swing! The first round of festivities are gorgeous fall parties and spooky halloween bashes. Celebrate with one of these deliciously fun, fall themed desserts! My favorite are the black cats! What’s yours?