Brown Sugar Apple Cookies

I have been ignoring you.  I'm sorry, you don't need to yell!  Listen up, my little brother is GETTING MARRIED this weekend!  The little brother of Sirious Sips, by the way, whatever happened to those?  Anyway, my focus has been elsewhere.  But yesterday, my focus was on making a scrumptious fall cookie, and you should totally use the word "scrumptious" more often.  No seriously, try saying it out loud, right now.  Scrumptious!  Doesn't it make you feel joyful?  I found this recipe for Brown Sugar Cookies and I thought, why not add some apples?!  Two peeled, diced Honeycrisp apples to be specific.  I also added 1/2 tsp of vanilla to the recipe and a cup of oatmeal.  I had EVERY intention of drizzling caramel on top and sprinkling them with sea salt (Salted Caramel Apple Cookie anyone??) but my focus faltered.  YOU'RE YELLING AT ME AGAIN.  They were delicious on their own.  

Scrumptious!  

Gender Reveal Cupcakes

Are you familiar with 'Gender Reveal Parties'??  They are all the rage these days, and remind me never to say "all the rage" again because it makes me sound ancient.  Anyhoo (ancient-er), if you are not hip to the Gender Reveal (oh dear god), then let me give you the 411 (make it stop): it's a party where an expecting couple reveal the sex of their baby to friends and family (and many times themselves) in a fun manner, like cutting into a cake or biting into a cupcake that's pink or blue inside.  Well, I was not only recently invited to one for my dear friends, Beth and Brad, but they asked me to bake the cupcakes!  And in this instance, they didn't know the sex either.  Their doctor wrote it down, sealed it in an envelope and gave it to me!  Talk about your head exploding with knowledge that you can't share with anyone, oy.  In full disclosure, I told my four-year-old son, Jack.  And he probably told a couple of buddies at school.  And they were like, "meh."  

    But, I was able to keep the secret, and I didn't even play a prank and swap genders like Carson wanted me to.  I had never baked stuffed cupcakes before, and decided to go for a homemade Hostess Cupcake following this recipe.  Every part of it was perfect.  Super moist, chocolaty cake, a sweet and fluffy marshmallow cream center and topped with a rich, chocolate ganache.  My kind of dessert.  I used a paring knife to core out the cupcakes, which was time-consuming but very easy.  And I used a freezer bag with the end snipped off to fill the centers wiiiiith... BLUE icing : )   

The happy couple...

Congrats Beth and Brad!  I can't wait to meet this sweet baby boy.  

(All images by Katy at Chasing You Photo)

Monster Eyeball Cookies

My daughter has been waking up at 5am this week, which is fun, because then we can bond while I'm super grumpy.  She also knows what "Mama, Coffee, HOT" means, so there's that.  And I've had a chance to get my blog posts up on the early side.  Morning Celebration!  Anyways, remember these Mini Candy Corn Sugar Cookies?  I've been pretty obsessed with the recipe since discovering it.  The dough comes together in a matter of minutes (I usually double it), it's easy to work with, it freezes well, and the creative possibilities are endless (think every holiday).  This go around, I added a small amount of green food coloring to the dough before adding the flour, and then topped each baked cookie with eyeball sprinkles.  Jack and I wanted to make faces on a few of them, so we melted chocolate chips and used a plastic baggie with the end snipped off to create silly, scary monsters... 

Ok those aren't scary at all.  Can you believe Halloween is less than a week away?  Good thing my son has 3 costumes he can't decide between!  If you feel like getting festive and domestic this weekend, check out the homemade candy I've made in the past.  And don't forget these Butterfingers!

Weekend!  

Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have I ever told you about how I hate Pumpkin Pie?  I hate it, really I do. 

I haven't even tried a piece since I was probably 9 years old, and I won't try it.  You probably think you can get me to eat a bite, but you're wrong.  I will run away from you and your bite, like a bat out of hell.  But the weird thing is... I like pumpkin bread, and pumpkin bars, and pumpkin ravioli, cheesecake, seeds, cookies, etc.  Just get away from me, Pumpkin Pie.  Get far, far away.

Back to me liking pumpkin other things, like cookies.  I decided to make up a recipe on Thursday and I think I did good.  All the autumn-y pumpkin flavor that I love, in the consistency of a cookie (not pie).  I brown butter all year long, but there's something extra special about the nuttiness the flavor offers in autumn time.  I added chocolate chips, because I do that to everything, but white chocolate chips would also be lovely.  If you only have all-purpose flour, that will be fine, but I love what the combination of bread flour and cake flour does for cookies.  They help to provide a chewy interior with a crackly exterior.  Be warned: this dough is sticky, so it's important to refrigerate it for as long as possible, preferably overnight.  But it will be worth the wait.  Happy Fall Without Pumpkin Pie, everyone!    

Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Makes approx. 2 dozen)

Printable Recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups bread flour

3/4 cup cake flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp all spice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips (or white)

In a small pot, brown butter over medium low heat.  This takes some time, but if you turn the heat too high the butter will burn.  Once it's foams, turns brown and starts to smell nutty - it's ready.  Remove from heat and let cool.  In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together both flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg and cloves.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, beat together with an electric mixer both sugars with browned butter.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing in between.  Add pumpkin and vanilla and mix until fully combined.  Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Cover and refrigerate overnight (or at least an hour).  When ready to bake, remove dough from fridge and preheat oven to 350.  Place rounded spoonfuls (I use an ice cream scooper) on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes.       

More Pumpkin on SD:

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

Fried Pumpkin Ravioli

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares

Pumpkin Seeds

Carmelitas

When I asked you what I should bake in my new oven, you had good ideas.  You are smart, brilliant people.  Especially you, Person Who Recommended These Carmelitas.  You are a damn genius!  You should quit your job, and become a Treat Email Recommender.  That's a real thing.  I'll pay you in Monopoly money and baked goods.  Speaking of paying people, my son got a dollar for unwrapping 32 caramel squares.  A dollar, and one caramel.  I bribe my kids.  

Anyway, let me be very clear about this: MAKE THESE.  They are crack bars.  I even made a corner without chocolate for my friend who's allergic, and they were still wonderful.  Also, I bet you could make your own homemade salted caramel sauce instead of paying someone to unwrap 32 squares.  We're all geniuses!!        

first layer...

second layer...

Polka Dot Cake

You guys, my baby turns 1 in a week.  I have a 1 year-old and a 4 year-old, excuse me, 4 AND A HALF year old (that's very important to include these days, apparently).  Time to sob in a corner, buy more anti-aging cream and bake some birthday cake.  Which is only my favorite thing to do in the world (bake, that is, I hate skin care).  Let me refresh your memory with Jack's first birthday, his second, his third and his fourth.  See?  I obsess.  This birthday was no different.  A friend showed me this Polka Dot Cake recipe probably 6 months ago and it was decided.  Done!  I knew little Etta Bo Betta would be smashing her face in polka dots by the time she turned one.  While that is still a week away, I made this cake for a small family gathering last night and it was a success!  Fairly simple, not overly time-consuming, and it yields fantastic results.  I used a store-bought cake mix for the cake balls and bought this (oh, I think I just might use it again), I used this recipe for the actual cake, and made my buttercream seen here.  With the leftover balls, I decorated the bottom of the cake and also I ate them.  

Happy 1st Birthday to my spunky little tiger, we love you : )         

Balls!

White cake batter...

Little Avenger helping out...

It's the whole family!  Etta wants out.

Bye bye balls...

And hello again!  

(I've heard freezing the balls helps them to not rise to the surface during baking, but in the end it didn't really matter much.) 

Frosting and layering...

Polka Dot Party!

Even her baby book matches which was a total accident.  

My breakfast...

S'mores Cake

Remember S'mores Cookies and S'more Cookie Bars and my sister's S'more Pops?  Well now I present you with S'Mores Cake.  Thank you Food Network for this recipe.  I was convinced it would be an overly sweet monstrosity but it was not!  The bittersweet chocolate ganache certainly helped, and I also went with 3 layers instead of 4.  Tip: definitely microwave the marshmallow fluff for 10 seconds (no more than that or it will explode!) to make it easier to spread.  And don't worry about the presentation of the cake - s'mores are supposed to be a gooey, sticky mess of deliciousness.  Also, it's even better the next day.  I used a boxed chocolate cake, by the way, so go ahead and judge me.  Make this!!  The perfect way to end the summer.

Fudge Brownie Cookies

The other day, as I was sitting there thinking about chocolate and butter, I thought... if you can make cookies with cake batter, then why can't you make them with brownie mix??  I think brilliant, deep, intellectual thoughts.  So off to the store I went in search of brownie mix.  And then I made deeply rich, chocolaty cookies with a fudgy interior and a crusty, brownie-like exterior.  Did I mention the gooey chocolate chunks?  I'm a genius.    

Fudge Brownie Cookies

Makes 2 dozen

Printable Recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp brewed coffee, cooled

1 3/4 cup fudge brownie mix

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 pkg. semi sweet (or dark) chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, whisk together brownie mix, flour, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.  In a larger bowl, mix together butter and brown sugar.  Add egg, vanilla and coffee and mix.  Slowly mix in dry ingredients.  Add chocolate chips and stir.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.  Preheat oven to 350.  Place rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased (or parchment lined) baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes.  

...making cookies next to my entire-waffle-eating 10 month-old.

4-0 Cake!

Someone in our house is turning 40 this week, and it's not me, and it's not my kids... so I'll let you figure that out.  As you know, I go a little coo koo roo over birthday cakes, and this was no exception.  I thought about baking 40 cakes, and then I thought about checking myself into a mental institution instead.  AND THEN, I found this alphabet/number pan, and my sanity was saved.  How cool is it??  You rearrange these 2-inch squares to form any number or letter you fancy!  And as long as you spray the pan, they pop right out leaving a perfectly formed cake.  I'm obsessed.

Have some happy weekends, ok?  And stay tuned next week for an exciting announcement : )  

Mascarpone Chocolate Chip Cookies

Some of you have been asking when you'll get to see our newly remodeled kitchen.  The answer is, in a few days plus three months.  You heard me, autumn time!!  We're nowhere near done!!  So be patient, and when I say that I'm talking to myself.  In the meantime, you'll just have to wonder how I'm still managing to bake delightful treats like these cupcakes.  Or are they muffins?  Do cupcakes technically need frosting?  Or does one single (large) chocolate chip qualify as a cupcake topper?  I think so.  Especially when you take a perfectly sweet recipe, like these mascarpone cupcakes, and add mini chocolate chips.  These fluffy bite-size treats do not need a moundful of icing.  Instead, when you take them out of the oven, place one large chocolate chip atop each cupcake.  They are perfect, just like that.  And they would be even more perfect for a Black and White Party.  Do those still exist?  Or do they just occur if you're me and you're 22?