Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

So occasionally my boyfriend Noah likes to give me ideas on something he'd like to eat. He's been doing this for almost a year now, back when we were just friends... Starting with lemonade cookies that I experimented with last summer.  But one day back in September he told me he wanted to eat chocolate chocolate cookies... Almost three months later:

These things were delicious. I almost regret giving Noah the entire batch... He did crumble up a few and put them in ice cream for me though. So... I think we're good.

What you'll need:

• 1 1/4 cups butter (prepare for artery clogging.)
• 1 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar (really it should be two cups white sugar, but I experimented this way, and they ended up delicious. So, really it's up to you.)
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips (give or take)

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Blend butter and sugar until creamy. Add in eggs one at a time, combining after each addition. Then add in vanilla.
-In a separate bowl combine cocoa, flour, salt, and baking soda. Gradually combine into creamed mixture.
- Fold in chocolate chips. I did use semi-sweet chocolate chips but feel free to be different. I'm sure either white chocolate chips or butterscotch would be amazing in these.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, be careful not to overbake. Let cool on wire rack.

Cookie mountain!

Enjoy!

Christmas Cutout Cookies

Every holiday season, this is what happens in my house. Traditional sugar cookies are one of the many things we end up baking, and now that my sister and I are old enough, we pretty much take up the process.

Now a few years ago, we finally switched our recipe. We got it from my wonderful Aunt Anne after my mom and I had been chowing down her cookies at almost every family get together. She says it's from The Joy of Cooking. And really... They're amazing.

Now, I ended up doubling the recipe but I won't frigthen anyone now by asking for a pound of butter for cookies.

Hungry yet? Good.

What you'll need:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups sifted flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

-Cream together egg, butter, and sugar.
-Blend in the vanilla.
-Mix in the sifted flour and salt.
-Chill the dough for 2 hours.
-Roll onto a floured surface, and cut into shapes

Yay for messes!

-Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes until slightly browned. Or in our case, until they're just slightly underdone. I think they're delicious that way.

Now of course, on to my favorite part... Frosting! Typically we use two different kinds of frosting... The one that we typically use for coloring is just a mixture of milk, vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar until you reach desired consistency. It makes this very pretty icing that dries to the cookies.

The second frosting we use, we always keep white. It's the recipe my Grandma Pat has been using for a very long time:

Mix together:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup cream or milk.

Once the frosting is made, feel free to decorate as you please! We've always used an assortment of sprinkles and other goodies, but it's all up to you!

Aren't they pretty? I will admit...

We did get bored with decorating.

So some of them aren't exactly...

Pretty.



So... I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, and as always... Enjoy!

Holiday Peppermint Bark via Tollhouse

It's that time of year again! No, not that time of year when I finally stop being lazy and start blogging a ton again... Well,  maybe that time too. I have been baking, I promise. I just have a tough time with my camera. But no worries. Today I have something involving one of the best elements of the holiday season: peppermint. More specifically, candy canes!

Well, I took the recipe from Allrecipes.com, but I modified it from there. And lemme tell you, it's ridiculously yummy. I hope my friends enjoy getting this treat as their presents for the holidays. It's the least I can do since I'm leaving them in about twelve days for a beach. I'm so excited to spend the holidays away from dreary Minnesota weather and instead spend it in Florida. Jealous? I would hope so.

What you need:

• One package vanilla almond bark
• 10-12 candy canes

- Line a cookie sheet with wax paper
- Melt almond bark according to directions.
- Place unwrapped candy canes in a plastic bag and crush using a rolling pin until in small pieces.
- Using a strainer, sprinkle the small pieces of the candy canes into the almond bark mix. Stir.
-Pour almond bark mixture onto baking sheet and spread. Top with remaining candy canes and press down lightly if needed.
- Let harden for an hour then break.

Apple Crisp

So I don't know if anyone has caught on yet, but I am terrible about blogging right after I've made it. I made this apple crisp last Saturday. I'll try to get better about posting more often, but let's be honest- not too many people read this. It's just something for me to do.
Anyways. Apple crisp. Fall is here in Minnesota and that means I've only been thinking about all the fall flavors- pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and of course- apples. My mom and I make apple crisp every year with just a recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. But now that I'm older, I tweak it just a tiny bit, by doubling the topping, and adding a little more spice. So I hope you enjoy!

What you'll need:

• 5 cups sliced and peeled apples (My mom yelled at me for not peeling the apples. It really didn't make a difference, I swear. More protein?)
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup regular rolled oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 stick butter

It looks yummy enough, right?

To make:

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees

-Place fruit in square baking dish and stir in sugar

-To make topping: In a bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping over the fruit.

-Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the topping is golden and fruit is tender. Top with caramel and vanilla ice cream if desired. (who wouldn't desire that? I mean... Really?)



Cookies and Cream Brownies (A delayed post...)

So anyone who knows me knows that when I get bored there is always one solution: baking. A few Sundays ago, while I should've been doing my IB History homework (shh... you didn't hear that) I began to get a craving for a brownie... And an oreo at the same time. What resulted were these: (please excuse the poor photography)

A brownie with oreos in them, and a cookies and cream frosting. Yum. Need I say more? I didn't think so. Normally I don't eat much of what I bake, because I'm a weirdo... But these were an exception. I may have taken one or two off of the plate that were meant for my boyfriend and his family, but what he doesn't know won't hurt me.

Now since my sister, Morgan isn't exactly crazy about frosting on her brownies, I only frosted half of the batch, leaving some extra frosting in the bowl for me to eat. Trust me, I did eat it. I feel no shame.

Anyways, on to the recipe?

For the brownies-              

• 3-4 squares baking chocolate
• 2 sticks butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (or if you're me, accidently dumping a ton of vanilla in the bowl... Oops...)
• 10 oreo cookies, crumbled

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

- Melt butter and chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream butter/chocolate mixture. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, beating one in at a time. Add flour, stir until just combined. Fold in crumbled cookies.

-Pour batter into 9x13 greased baking pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Make sure to cool before frosting. :)

For the frosting-



• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. of powdered sugar
•  1 teaspoon vanilla
•  1-2 teaspoons whipping cream (or if just milk if you'd rather use that...)
• 10 oreo cookies, crushed.

-Mix together butter and powdered sugar, adding sugar gradually. Add in vanilla. Mix in milk a little at a time. Fold in cookies. Top brownies.