Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm back at school but I made these goodies before I was forced back into my oven-less dormitory.  I've spent a lot of time figuring out what I want to do - not to sound conceited but I'm rather smart and always wanted to be known that way and not becoming a lawyer or having a ph.d in psychology (my other plans) didn't seem like the way to become a genius. However I now figure that it's much "smarter" to do what you love and I much rather dedicate my life to food.  Even though I have two more years at TCNJ, I'm going to spend them working towards culinary school and a nutrition program - I'm looking into Johnson & Wales and it sounds amazing; and just speaking to them, I'm so excited (hopefully excited enough to get me through two more years).  Now I just have the break the news to my professors here that I've been working so closely with in the academic world. I'll promise them free cupcakes if or rather, WHEN I open my bakery one day. 
For now, have a cookie.



Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies  
from how Sweet it is

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
8 tablespoons of salted butter, melted and cooled
6 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter, melted and cooled
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat over to 325 degrees.
Melt butter and peanut butter together in microwave then set to cool
Mix together flour and baking soda in separate bowl
Mix sugars with the butters mix till combined
then add eggs and vanilla 
and finally the dry stuff
fold in the chips - I used mini cause thats what I had, there were so many of them so I cut it down to 1 cup and they were everywhere making every bite delicious.
Form decent size balls, like a small golf ball and place on ungreased cookie sheet and into the oven for 12ish minutes. 
attempt to let cool and then eat. 

 

they were incredible. maybe if I bring them to class, everyone will agree that culinary school is for me.



Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

 

From Annie's Eats

OMG, my mother decided these little cakes were the best I've ever baked, they had to be made twice.  I made them for a BBQ and again for my sister's play date - I was told that the mom's loved them even more than the kids. I say awesome to that, hopefully mommies will be my future clientele.

First I made the egg-less cookie dough filling so It could be refrigerated:

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tbsp. light brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Cream the butter and brown sugar before adding the flour, milk, and extract; then fold in the chips.

Next, comes the brown sugar cake batter
First time around, I halved the original recipe and I thought there was too much butter so the second time I made the whole recipe minus 1 stick of butter.  I think I'm going to go back to 3 sticks next time to compare, and who's to argue with Annie's Eats.

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt*
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)

Make sure the butter and sugar is creamed well before adding one egg at a time. Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl then alternating-ly add the dry and the milk + vanilla; making sure to start and end with the dry stuff. then fold in the chips.
Then bake for 18-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Now, FROSTING, brown sugar frosting to be exact

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
3½ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. salt*
3 tbsp. milk
2½ tsp. vanilla extract

I WISH I HAD A STAND MIXER, it's supposed to be my Christmas present so fingers crossed for a pretty color.  So with a stand mixer or a hand mixer (like I use)
Cream the butter and brown sugar, then mix in the powdered sugar until smooth, then the flour, then the milk and vanilla.

*I always use salted butter and leave out the salt, so feel free to do that too.

Once the delicious cakes are cooled enough and your patience has run out, fill with a bit of the filling, I actually used a piping tip to core the cupcake (I couldn't find anything better) and then filled the hole with the egg-less mixture
and filled an actual piping bag with the frosting and frosted the yummy cupcake. 

I don't advise eating these right out of the refrigerator, make sure they're room temperature for melty buttery bliss.
top with mini chips. enjoy.

 
 
 

August Birthday Cakes

Bows and Buttons for my future sister-in-law ;), Suzie's 19th
and an X-box controller for my cousin, Dominick's 13th

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Bang! Bang!

Janie's got a gun....well not really - these violent cookies are for my cousin's 13th birthdayHappy Birthday Dominick - enjoy your day!