Chocolate chip cookies with a twist!

We now have a new favorite cookie in our house, its a Chocolate chip oatmeal peanut butter cookie! These are hands down the best cookies I have ever made!

So many cookie that I've made in the past are soft when they're warm but get hard once they've cooled. Well not these, they stay soft for days after you bake them! You don't taste much of the peanut butter in them, just a hint of it. The only thing I would change or maybe try in the future is to add pecans, I think that would probably make them that much better!

On to the recipe....

1 cup butter
2/3 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oats
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter just until moistened. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Drop by tablespoonfuls on to lightly greased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges start to brown. Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen large cookies & 5 dozen tablespoon sized cookies


- I use a small ice cream scoop instead of a tablespoon, if you do this you'll need to bake them for 14 minutes.
- I use the mini chocolate chips instead of the regular sized


{adapted from Allrecipes.com}

Who doesn't love chocolate cake?

After dusting off the cobwebs and sweeping the floors, I'm back in business.....ok in all seriousness I've been really busy with such little time to do anything I really enjoy. Photography and baking has become such a luxury for me, but soon enough I'll be out of school and I'll have more time on my hands to do the things I love most!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, in the past I've done elaborate desserts for her birthday but this year time simply didn't allow that. I've got a notebook that I put all of my printed recipes in, I decided to find a recipe for a good ol' chocolate cake that I hadn't tried before. Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" chocolate cake was my pick, I had everything on hand to make it so I was set!

This was truly the best cake I've ever made from scratch, it was so moist and slightly dense. It's a perfect cake to use if you want to put elaborate heavy decorations on because even though it's moist it's still dense enough to hold up. I've come across so many cake recipes that when you make them you either end up with a super moist soft cake that just falls apart or a dense cake that's dry. This cake is the perfect happy medium of both!

As for the frosting part of the recipe, it's not so much my favorite. While it was yummy, it wasn't my favorite. I think perhaps I'm to critical of what I bake, because nobody agreed with me on the verdict of the frosting. My entire family loved the frosting.

Overall the recipe is good, it's VERY chocolately indeed and quite simple to make! I'd recommend this recipe to anybody, even the novice bakers out there!



HERSHEY'S "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING(recipe follows)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.


"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

{found at www.hersheys.com}

Barefoot Contessa's Brownies

I've decided that brownies are similar to a steak, because everybody likes them differently. Some like a rare steak while others like theirs well done. With brownies people like them chewy, fudgy or cakey. (is that even a word?) Anyhow, I personally like them some where in between. This recipe hit home with the consistancy for me. I'm still on the fence about if I like the taste of them or not, my brother on the other hand says they're the best brownies he's ever had. I was hesitant to make these originally because they call for an entire pound of butter and over a pound of chocolate. If you're going to try this recipe, then I do recommend halving it unless you need a ton of brownies!!



Barefoot Contessa's Brownies
1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs (I used large eggs)
3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups diced walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.
Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not over-bake! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

Martha's Peanut-butter Swirl Brownies

I ordered Martha Stewart's new cookie book, it finally arrived this past week. After taking it work to share it with others, I decided to bake something out of it today. Funny enough, it wasn't a cookie.....it was brownies. As I've mentioned before I'm not a big peanut-butter fan, but a friend of mine requested these hence why I tried them.

The recipe is pretty straight forward, not really anything I'd change about it. I did change the baking time in my version, that's the only adjustment I made. Martha says to bake them for 45 minutes, mine didn't cook but about 35 minutes and actually they could have come out a few minutes earlier.



I cut a small square out of the corner for myself. I couldn't resist the urge not to try them, they looked soo good! I was quite surprised I actually really liked them. For me I could've used less peanut-butter, but my boyfriend disagreed he said they were perfect as they were.



How to.....
Batter
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Filling
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over sides. Butter lining (excluding overhang); set pan aside.
Make batter: Put butter and chocolates in a heatproof medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water; stir until melted. Let cool slightly. (I melted my chocolate and butter in a microwavable bowl in 30 second increments until it was melted.)
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl, and set aside.
Whisk granulated sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs, and whisk until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture; stir until well incorporated.
Make filling: Stir together butter, confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, salt, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.
Pour one-third of batter into prepared pan, and spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Place dollops of filling (about 1 tablespoon each) about 1 inch apart on top of batter. Drizzle remaining batter on top, and gently spread to fill pan. Place dollops of remaining filling on top.
With a butter knife, gently swirl filling into batter, running knife lengthwise and crosswise through layers. Bake until a cake tester inserted into brownies comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 35-40 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift out brownies; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

Grand Marnier Cranberry Cookies

I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated, I've actually got quite a few updates to do but haven't had the time. Last semester of school kicked my butt, I had no extra time for fun stuff.

So onto today's recipe, these cookies are so good! I'm not a fan of cranberries, so I didn't expect to like them. I was proven wrong with one bite! My mom loves anything cranberry, I'd purchased some cranraisins but couldn't decide what to do with them. After searching online, I found a recipe to use I just made a few adjustments to it.

What you'll need:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups slightly chopped cranraisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

(Makes 3 dozen)
How to:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg until well blended. Mix in orange zest, orange juice and Grand Marnier. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the orange mixture. Mix in cranraisins and walnuts, until evenly distributed. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be spaced at least 2 inches apart.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are golden. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.


Side note: next time I'll increase the cranraisins to 2 cups and the Grand Marnier to 2 tablespoons
recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

My kinda carrot cake!!

My significant other has been bugging me for a month or so now to make him a carrot cake. I set out on a mission to find what looked to be a good recipe for such cake. I have most all of my 97 years old grandmother's cookbooks, I've enjoyed them far more than any of my newer cookbooks. This recipe came from one of her books, I was not let down in the least it was a perfect recipe! The cake is moist, flavorful and slightly dense.

One thing I do recommend is grating the carrots with a cheese grater instead of putting them into a food processor. I find that when chopping them into such small pieces in a food processor they become weighted down and sink to the bottom. It is a pain to grate 3 cups of carrots, but the result is well worth it!! Onto the recipe...

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup apple sauce
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (sifted)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 1 cup raisins (optional)

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar (sifted)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• ½ toasted coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Beat together eggs, oil, apple sauce, brown and white sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Fold in carrots. Pour into cupcake liners, filling about ½ full.
Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes. (try the tooth pick test after about 18 minutes) Transfer cupcakes to wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting:
In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add in confectioners' sugar one cup at a time, mixing after each. After frosting cupcakes top with walnuts or toasted coconut if desired.

Baked French Toast

It's been a while....I have quite a few recipes that I want to share but I haven't had a break between school and work to post them. So at some point I'll play catch up and post a bunch at one time!

Anyhow on to today's post, for every one post I make on here I usually try 2 or 3 different recipes maybe more. I've learned with cooking/baking it is a hit or miss kinda thing. You really have to learn to create as you go, in case you don't have something the recipe calls for, if you're not getting the right consistency, etc. This is one of those recipes, I've tried two different ways of making it and this one was it!

My mom and Brad's mom came over for brunch about a month ago, I wanted to make french toast but not your typical french toast. I'd tried a baked french toast before but it turned out to mushy. This one was perfect, it was soft but slightly crisp on the top. It needs no syrup or butter, it is scrumptious right out of the oven!


What you'll need
1 loaf day old French bread
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup

Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Cut bread diagonally in 1 inch slices. Dip each slice of bread into mixture, then pour remaining mixture into corners and outer edges of pan, cover, and refrigerate overnight or atleast 4 hours.
The next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup; heat until bubbling. Pour over bread and egg mixture.
Bake in preheated oven uncovered for 40 minutes.