Cupcake but Not a Cupcake

So this weekend I took my life into my hands and had three girls over to sleepover for my daughters 6th birthday party. Of course these days when you host a birthday party for kids, it is customary to send the children home with goodie bags. That didn't happen when I was a little girl but now it is expected. A few weeks back, I bought a cupcake cookie cutter at Sur La Table just for the heck of it and while I was preparing for the party I thought what better goodie then a decorated sugar cookie in the shape of a cupcake. It was perfect for a little girls party. I even went so far as to personalize each cookie with the kids name s on them. They came out even better than I had expected and the kids loved them.

I have a no fail sugar cookie recipe that I use each time. I will include it below. It was a recipe that came with a pack of Wilton cookie cutters and I,ve used it ever since. I love this recipe one, because it tastes so good and two because it is a no chill dough. Not having to chill dough makes it much easier to roll out in my opinion. Just make sure you have plenty of flour on your surface and rolling pin before rolling out the dough. If the dough begins to tear, just form it back into a ball, add a little more flour to surface and top of the dough & start rolling again. I promise, it will still be much easier than trying to roll out dough that has been chilling in the fridge for hours!!!.

No Fail Sugar Cookie
Adapted from Wilton

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and the extracts. Mix flour, salt and baking powder together in small bowl. On low speed, add the flour mixture a little at a time. Do not chill dough. Divide dough into 2 balls.

On floured surface, roll each ball into a circle approximately 12 in. diameter x 1/8 in. thick. Dip cookie cutter in flour before each use. Bake cookies on ungreased cookie sheet 8-11 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned.

My First Paid For Cookie Order

Yep, you read that correctly. This past week, I got my first order for sugar cookies and was actually paid for it. I have a friend who works with my hubby, who does a lot of wonderful charity work. She usually asks me to bake various goodies for charity bake sales she hosts at the office (like Valentine's). Well, she loved my Valentine's sugar cookies and decided that she wanted to order 50 hand decorated cookies to go along with a press package she handing out to local media stations for a charity event she was hosting. Instead of going with a bakery, she thought of me first and actually offered to pay me. Never in all my baking "career" did I think my "thing" would be decorated sugar cookies. Not until this past Christmas did I even find a recipe I liked or get the decorating down to a science. Now, they are my most requested item (besides my peach cobbler). Now I have to admit, with the time I took me to get 50 cookies baked, decorated and packaged, I don't think I want to do this for a job. It is a fun hobby and I love helping my friends out. But with a 2yr old running around the house, I just don't have the time to do this full time. For now I'll just enjoy my the rewards of my hobby. I can't wait for Easter. I have some fabulous ideas!!!!

Racecars

All packed up and ready to go

Sweet Valentine Treats

Happy Valentine's Day!!!! This year I'm participating in a bake sale benefiting animal rescue and I went with a Valentine's theme since the bake sale happens to fall on February 14th. I'm not the biggest enthusiast of Valentine's day but I do love making treats for people. What better way to show someone that you love them then making a homemade yummy surprise. I decided this year I would take on one of my newest loves, and that is the "flooded" sugar cookie. I love this technique and how pretty it makes a sugar cookie. I had so much fun shopping for new cookie cutters and decorations for the Valentine's theme. "Flooding" a cookie isn't necessarily difficult but it can be tedious and does take a lot of patience. For the best tips on technique check out Bake at 350. She truly makes some of the most gorgeous cookies and gives excellent step by step detail on how to make them. Check out a few of what I made. I hope they sell well!!!!

Champagne anyone!!!!

Oh No, not my oven

That's right folks, I've had an oven malfunction. My oven is caput and unfortunately I'm not going to be able to finish my 12 treats of Christmas series. Lucky for me, I should be back in business just in time for Christmas but not in time to finish my blog series. Please check back in with me in 2012 and see what new and fun recipes I try for the new year. So until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!!

12 Treats of Christmas Part 1

So I know that I promised to share my 12 treats of Christmas and now I'm a little behind. Not only is it the Christmas season but in my household it seems like it's the season of sickness. Everyone in my house (except me so far) have had a really bad cold and instead of baking, I've been taking care of my patients. Well now, everyone seems to be back on the mend and I can focus on my treats for Christmas. So here goes.....

Treat 2- The Gingerbread House

I cheated on this treat and it's not actually a treat we give away as a gift in this house. My daughter and I just love to decorate it and put it out for all to see. I picked up a "pre-assembled" house at Target and we got to work. The set game with the house, the frosting, and the candies and we designed it all ourselves. This is a great activity to do with your kids and they will just get a kick out of it!!!!

Treat 3- Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods

This is an easy but beautiful treat to give away to friends and family in a goodie bag. Seriously, who doesn't love the combination of sweet and salty and with a chocolate covered pretzel you get both in one bite. So simple to make, you just need pretzel rods, white and dark chocolate candy melts (I used Wilton) and then whatever type of decoration you want on the pretzel. We used Christmas sprinkles and crushed candy canes. Once you melt down the chocolate, spoon chocolate over the pretzel then place on wax paper until set but not hardened. Once set, drizzle with your decoration of choice and place back on the wax paper and put on the fridge until hardened. Can't get much easier than that can it?

Treat 4- Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes

Again, I cheated a little bit on this one. I used a red velvet cake mix but did make the frosting on my own. These little two bite cupcakes are fun to eat but can be used for an elegant gathering. I used the leftover crushed candy canes to top the cupcakes to give them that holiday feeling. It also gives a nice hint of mint flavoring that takes the dessert to another level.

Treat 5- Dark Chocolate Oreo Fudge

Another easy treat to make,(are you starting to see a pattern here?),fudge. I asked my daughter what would be tasty to put into our fudge mixture and she decided on crushed Oreo's and it really worked. What I like about this fudge recipe is that it isn't overly sweet because of the semi-sweet chocolate. I'm not a big fan of overly sweet desserts but if you prefer a little sweeter fudge, by all means add a little milk chocolate to this recipe to get the desired taste.

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup crushed Oreo cookies

In a saucepan over medium heat, pour the milk in and add the chocolate. Make sure the chocolate is completely coated by the milk. Add the salt and vanilla and cook until chocolate has melted. Take off the heat and add the cookies. Poor into a 9" baking dish covered with foil, making sure there is enough foil to hang over sides. Let mixture come to room temperature before chilling in the fridge for 3hrs. Once chilled, remove foil from pan using the overhang and the peel fudge from the foil. Slice and pack for holiday gifts!!!

Treat 6- Peanut Butter Kisses

Okay, one of my favorite food combinations is the peanut butter and chocolate. Again, I think it's the mix of salty and sweet that I love. So why not top a simple peanut butter cookie with a yummy chocolate kiss. It makes a really pretty cookie and it couldn't be tastier.

48 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar

1 Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

2 Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

3 Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4 Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each
cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.
About 4 dozen cookies.

It's Time For Christmas Cookies!!!

This truly is the most wonderful time of the year, in my humble opinion of course. I love Christmas movies, Christmas decorations, Christmas cartoons and music, but most of all I love baking goodies for Christmas. Decorated sugar cookies, chocolate dipped wonders, peppermint scented treats, they're all so tasty. So this year, I thought I would write a new installment on the blog. I'm trying for a 12 days of Christmas treats theme. Some might be cake pops, some might be cupcakes but all should be perfect for a holiday treat basket to give as a gift. So here goes.

Treat One: The chocolate chip cookie reboot

I asked my daughter the other day, what would be the perfect cookie to leave for Santa. Her suggestion was a little twist on the chocolate chip cookie. She wanted a cookie with a little bit a peanut butter, chocolate chips and M&M's candies. Lucky for me I had all of the ingredients on hand so I went to work creating a recipe. I took the basic recipe for chocolate chip cookies and added 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and a cup of holiday plain M&M's. They were just what she wanted and she exclaimed they were the best cookies ever!!!! You can't beat that.

Chocolate Chip/M&M Cookie

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks unsalted) softened
2 eggs
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
1 cup plain M&M's

Preheat oven to 375
In a small bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside. Using either a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream butter, sugars, vanilla and peanut butter together. Be careful not to over beat the butter. Add eggs and mix until incorporated. Add flour mixture and mix. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix in the chips and M&M's. Scoop dough onto cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Enjoy & stay tuned for the next Christmas treat!!!!

Nutella Cream Pie

Ever since my mother-in-laws birthday back in August, I have developed an obsession for the chocolate/hazelnut spread, Nutella. I'll spread it on top of a granola bar or have it on a piece of whole wheat toast for breakfast. I've even switched out peanut butter and made Nutella cookies. I've scoured the internet for various recipes involving Nutella just to get my fix in. It's borderlining on crazy. Over the weekend, I asked hubby what kind of pie I should make for the weekend and I gave him some options (peanut butter, pumpkin or chocolate). He suggested a peanut butter cream pie and it's as if a lightbulb went off in my head. What about a Nutella cream pie instead? He loves hazelnuts and wouldn't a Nutella cream pie taste like a little fancier chocolate cream pie? Right then and there I was sold. I got to work writing a recipe and came up with something that is out of this world.

Nutella Cream Pie

For the Crust:

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar

For the Filling:

2/3 cup Nutella spread
1 8oz package of cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of kosher salt
1 egg

For the topping:

1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
additional Nutella for drizzling, warmed in microwave

Preheat oven to 325 degree. In a small bowl, mix together all the crust ingredients and press into the bottom of a 9" pie plate.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the Nutella, cream cheese, chocolate, sugar and salt about 1 minute. Add the egg and mix until glossy and smooth, 1 more minute. Poor filling in your pie crust and bake for 30 minutes until the center is just set. Let cool to room temperature and make your whipped topping. Whip the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Spread the topping over pie and sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts and drizzle with melted Nutella. Enjoy!!!