Easter Sugar Cookies

I really wanted to bake something more complicated for Easter, like a chocolate Babka that I saw on a blog somewhere, hmm, I can't remember where. I bought these mini pink and yellow vanilla chips from Nestle. So I made a simple sugar cookie and dipped the cookies in the chips before baking.

The cookies are a little crispy for my taste. I will probably store them with a slice of bread in the container to soften the cookies up a bit. I heard that if you add some brown sugar to the recipe it will make the cookies a little chewier. I will try it next time. Also, the recipe calls for a medium ice cream scoop, which is what I used, the cookies are very large. I will try a smaller scoop when I make these again. They do taste good though.

Easter Sugar Cookies
Makes 32 medium sized cookies – from Savorysweetlife.com

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 cup salted butter
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
mini chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream together butter and sugar until it is nice and creamy. Mix in 1 egg yolk at a time and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, cream of tarter, and salt until cookie dough is completely mixed. Be sure to scrape down the bowl to be sure everything is mixed. Using a medium scoop, form dough balls and press them into the mini chips. Place cookies on a cookie sheet 2 inches apart from one another. Be sure not to flatten the dough. I pressed the cookies down and they did come out very large. I will try not to press them down next time. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the surface of each cookies have a cracked like texture. Remove from oven and allow cookies to remain on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

~Michelle

Buffalo Sabres Cupcakes

Well, it's that time of year again, playoff hockey. Last year on game 1 of the playoffs I made cookies. I didn't have that much time this year so I made some cupcakes instead. Let's hope the Sabres make it past round 1 this year.

These cupcakes are peanut butter chip, yellow cake cupcakes with a banana butter cream frosting. The m&m's are blue and gold for the Buffalo Sabres. The only problem that I came across was that the chips sank to the bottom. I dipped them in flour and everything. The batter must be too thin to keep the chip suspended.

Maybe next time I will try a peanut butter filling instead.
I took the cupcakes to work in honor of the Buffalo Sabres game 1 round 1 playoffs. The cupcakes were a big hit.

Yellow Cupcakes

3/4 cup butter

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/4 cup milk

1 cup peanut butter & milk chocolate swirl chips

1. Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line twenty-four muffin cups with paper bake cups. In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Preheat oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating on medium speed until combined. Scrape sides of bowl; beat about 2 minutes more or until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat n vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and mild to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.
3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each one-half to two-thirds full. Use the back of a spoon to smooth out batter in cups.
4. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on wire racks.

Frosting

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. banana extract

2 tbsp. heavy cream

Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until incorporated. Add the extracts and beat on medium speed until well blended. Add in the heavy cream and beat on medium-high speed for about 4 minutes, until light and fluffy.

frosting adapted from Annie's Eats

I will come up withs something else when the Buffalo Sabres make it to round 2.

~Michelle

Chocolate Kahlua Cupcakes

It's always fun to make a dessert that has a little booze inside. I found a recipe for chocolate Kahlua cupcakes at Annie's Eats. I decided to make these as mini cupcakes. The cupcakes with the plain frosting in the foreground are the Kahlua and the ones in the background of the photo with the sprinkles are plain, for the kids.

The test batch came out so great that I made these to take to a girl get together. Always fun to serve liqueur infused desserts. **These are mini sized cupcakes.

Here are directions for a 1/2 recipe.

Cake

3/8 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 tsp espresso powder

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/8 tsp baking powder

3/8 tsp salt

1 egg

3/8 cup water

3/8 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

for brushing the cupcakes:

Kahlua liqueur

Frosting

6 Tbsp butter

2 cups confectioners sugar

3-4 Tbsp Kahlua

1 Tbsp heavy cream

Directions

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line standard cupcake pans with paper liners. In a large mixing bowl combine the cocoa powder, espresso powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk well to blend. Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high speed until smooth, 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake until the tops spring back when pressed lightly, about 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Let cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Poke a few holes in the top of each cupcake with the tines of a fork and brush with Kahlua while still warm. Allow to cool completely.

To make the frosting, beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated. Add in the Kahlua and beat on medium speed until well blended. Add in the heavy cream and beat on medium-high speed for about 4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

Source: cupcakes and frosting from Annie’s Eats

Celebrate with Chocolate-Almond Cheesecake Bites

It has been 1 year since my first post on this blog. I really didn't know what to expect and I really wasn't a consistent poster. I like to explore other blogs and see what everyone is baking and crafting.

I'm really enjoying the blogging experience very much. I love baking and making jewelry, so out of that I decided to share my adventures on the net. I will try very hard to post more during the second year. I'm sure when summer comes there will be fewer posts. Although, we love to have people over to our lake house which always calls for baking.

Let's Celebrate my first year of blogging with some cheesecake.

Here is another simply wonderful recipe. I always like to bring sweets with me to partys and gatherings. Bites are wonderful to take and serve at partys because there is no cutting and guests can just grab and go. This recipe takes a little work but it turns out very impressive. This recipe if from the 2007 edition of the Betty Crocker - Indulgent Desserts. I didn't get a chance to bake these this week so here is a scan of the book that the recipe is from and that picture is the cheesecakes.

The recipe calls for Oreo cookies crushed up. I used to be able to find Oreo Crumbs at the grocery store, as I have stated in another blog post. So I had to buy some Oreo cookies and grind them up. I keep them on hand so I can use them for desserts. This is a great recipe that everyone finds irresistible.

Chocolate-Almond Cheesecake Bites

Crust
Chocolate-Almond Cheesecake Bites Crust 16 Oreo cookies, ground - 1 cup
1/4 cup butter or margarine melted FiFillinglling FinllingjasdjlasndfasjklfasklfjasdlfFr

Filling
1 package (8oz) cream cheese (softened)
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Coating
Coating 2 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons shortening
2 oz candy coating/disc melts 1 teaspoon vegetable oil Directions DRdd
Directions

1. Heat oven to 350F. Cut a 14"x12" sheet of heavy-duty foil; line 8-inch square pan with foil so foil extends over sides of pan. Spray foil with cooking spray. In small bowl, mix cookie crumbs and butter. Press in bottom of pan.


2. In large bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream and sugar with electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in egg and almond extract, scraping the bowl if necessary. Pour over crust.


3. Bake 30-40 minutes or until edges are set.(center will be soft but will set when cool.) Cool on cooling rack 1 hour. cover and refrigerate 1 hour. Meanwhile, cover 2 cookie sheets with wax paper.


4. Remove cheesecake from pan by lifting foil. Cut into 8 rows by 6 rows, making 48 oblong cheesecake bites. In 1-quart microwave bowl, microwave chocolate chips and shortening uncovered on medium (50%) for 3 minutes. Stir, microwave in 15-second increments, stirring after each, until melted and smooth.


5. Work with half of the bites at a time (24): refrigerate other half until needed. Place 1 bite on fork and dip fork into chocolate to coat. Lift fork from chocolate and allow excess to drip off. Place on 1 wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of the bites. Chill for about 15 minutes.


6. In small microwaveable bowl, microwave candy coating and oil uncovered on High 1 minute. Stir, microwave in 15-minute increments, stirring after each until melted. Spoon into small resealable food-storage plastic bag. Seal bag; cut tiny hole in the corner of bag. Pipe melted coating over dipped bites . Store covered in refrigerator.
   
   ~Michelle

Ebelskivers

Ebelskivers. Have you ever heard of them? They are traditional Danish pancakes. They are light and fluffy because of the whipped egg whites that are folded into the batter. They have a distinctive sphere shape and there is a special pan to help you achieve the perfect pancake. I had to use 3 bowls. 1 to whisk the egg yellows with the milk, 1 to hold the mix and 1 for whipping the egg whites. I bought the mix at Williams-Sonoma but you can certainly make that from scratch. I bought the special pan at Williams-Sonoma also. I made these this morning for breakfast and only my 1 son and I like them so I cut the recipe in half. You put just a dash of butter in each well of the pan then add about 1 Tablespoon in each well. Then you add what ever filling that you might like. I added some chocolate chips to ours. (should have added more) You could use Nutella, jam, jelly, or maybe even fresh raspberries. I can't wait to try even more flavors.

After you add the filling you add 1 Tablespoon to each well covering the filling. Then flip the pancakes after they start to bubble. I used chop sticks to turn them. Williams-Sonoma does sell a tool to help flip but skewers or chop sticks or plastic knives also work.

Enjoy. Top them with syrup or powdered sugar or maybe even cinnamon sugar.. yum so delicious.

~Michelle