Black Bottom Cookie Bars

I have been trying not to bake as much because my husband doesn't really eat what I make and then I have to eat all of it. But I saw this recipe and it was super easy and it looked so good I had to make it. And I am glad that I did!! This recipe is easy to make and if you bake at all you will have all the ingredients laying around. The chocolate is just enough to make it super yummy and the top layer of cookie is gooey and delicious!! So I ate one last night, and now my husband is going to take them to work to share with his coworkers so that I don't eat them all

Black Bottom Cookie Bars

• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted (plus more for baking dish)
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 & 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly butter an 8-inch square baking pan.

Whisk together butter and both sugars in a large bowl. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add flour and salt, mixing just until moistened.

Divide batter in half, and transfer one half to a separate bowl. Stir in cocoa powder and chocolate chips until combined.

Place chocolate batter in baking pan. Spread evenly and smooth top. Spread plain batter on top of chocolate batter. Smooth top.

Bake 25-30 minutes, or until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Makes 24 bars. (I cut mine bigger so it only made 15)

Watermelon Sangria

I realize it has been awhile, so please forgive me!!

This drink is a perfect summertime drink. It is cool and refreshing and it looks pretty too.

Watermelon Sangria

12 Cups of Cubed Seeded Watermelon (approx 1 personal sized watermelon)
1 Bottle of white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
1 Cup Vodka
1/2 Cup Triple Sec
1/2 Cup of simple syrup
Fresh Blueberries

Puree 9 cups of watermelon in a blender, pour through a strainer into a pitcher. Pour in the wine, vodka, triple sec and simple syrup. Stir to combine, add the rest of the watermelon and the blueberries. Let cool in the fridge for at least 4 hours before serving. Overnight would be even better. The watermelon and the blueberries absorb some of the alcohol and they are delicious!!
Happy Summer!!

Romano Chicken with Lemon Butter Sauce

I made this a few weeks ago for dinner and it was a huge hit. You coat the chicken in romano cheese and you make a lemony wine sauce that is delicious. You bake the chicken in the sauce for a little bit at the end, which I think it what makes it so tender. And you throw the lemons in, so they bake also and your whole house smells like lemony goodness. The kids even loved it!! Hope you do too.

Chicken Romano w/ Lemon Butter Sauce

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup flour

3 eggs

3/4 cups romano cheese

3/4 chicken stock

1/2 stick butter

1 whole lemon

1/3 cup white wine

1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

Preheat oven to 350. Add olive oil to skillet on medium heat.

Tenderize chicken, then dredge through flour, egg and cheese. Place in skillet and brown on both sides. Once brown, turn off heat. This is what it should look like

Melt butter in a small sauce pan. Add lemon juice and chopped up lemons. Try to discard all seeds. Add white wine and parsley. Let come to a boil. then pour entire mix into chicken skillet. Add chicken stock to skillet.

Cover and bake for about 20 minutes at 350. Serve with pasta or rice.

Finished product!!

Baked Brownies

Let me start out by saying that I generally make things from scratch, I very rarely use a mix. This is the exception. I recently went to Williams Sonoma and they were making brownies in the store and they smelled amazing. They tasted even better. They were the Baked Brownies mix. If you have not heard of this, Baked is a brownie shop in NYC that is famous for their amazing brownies. Now you can purchase the brownie mix at Williams Sonoma. It is not cheap, it costs $12, and I thought I could make it from scratch for less than that, but it turns out I can't. The real recipe has a lot of high end chocolate in it, which is why it is so delicious, but that makes it more expensive to make.
These brownies are fudgey, and lovely. This is probably the only time you will hear me say that the mix is better than scratch. I made the peanut butter brownie and the dark chocolate, they are both delightful, I love the peanut butter, but that is my preference. They are amazing and you should give them a shot
Here is the link to the website

Valentines Ideas

Valentines is a fun baking holiday too. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Valentines Bark with Conversation Heart
This one looks very festive and a good use of conversation hearts. Because, let's face it, conversation hearts are fun and cute, but they don't taste very good

Cupcakes with Piped Hearts: You can melt white or milk chocolate and put it in a piping bag and pipe hearts onto wax paper. They will harden and then you can stand them up on top of the cupcakes. Super cute!!

Anything Red or Pink
Sugar cookies cut into hearts and decorated with pink and red sprinkles or frosting are always a big hit. Also red velvet cake or cupcakes are a good Valentines treat, here are some red velvet suggestions along with recipes

Cupcakes for 2
This is a fun little treat if you and your Valentine are staying in and you don't want to eat 24 cupcakes!!

Happy Valentines Day, I hope that you all have a wonderful day with your sweetie!!

Mega Berry Streusal Muffins

We struggle with breakfast at our house. My girls don't really want to eat it, they could take it or leave it. So I am always looking for things that they can grab and eat that will be good for them, but they will still eat. I recently read a book called "How to Bake a Perfect Life" It is fiction, but it is about someone who owns a bakery and it is filled with recipes. That is where I found this one. It has yogurt, oats, whole wheat flour, and not a lot of sugar. And it has a ton of fruit, so it appeals to the kiddos. I made them last night, and they were a big hit, I loved them too.
Hope you enjoy!!
Berry Streusel Muffins

1 1/2 Cups Flour
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup Oats
1 T Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 Cup Honey (or raw sugar) I used 1/2 cup of each
1 1/2 Cups of Plain Yogurt (I used plain Greek yogurt, it adds a little more protein)
1 6oz container of Blueberry or Raspberry Yogurt
1/2 Cup Milk
3 T Canola Oil
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Large Egg
1 Cup Each of Raspberries and Blueberries (I only used blueberries, you could use any combination of berries you like)

Preheat oven to 400, line muffin tins with liners, or grease them
Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine all the wet ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and combine until completely mixed. Fold on the berries. Divide among the muffin tins and set aside.

Streusel Mix (you nay need to double this to have enough for the muffins)
1/4 Cup Flour
3 T Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Chopped Nuts (walnuts, pecans. or almonds)
1 1/2 T Melted Butter

Combine all the ingredients and sprinkle on top of muffins

Bake for about 15 minutes. Let cool in the pans for about 15 minutes to let the berries set, then cool completely on a wire rack

Holy Cow!!

These look amazing and I shall make them at once!!
Sprinkle Bakes

Toffee

When I was a kid my mom made a recipe every year called Butter Crunch, and it was a toffee type recipe and it was awesome. But it was very difficult to make, my mom struggled with it for years. For a couple of years I tried to make it and it never worked. I went through a ton of butter every year, and it never worked. A couple of years I wrote it off and decided that the recipe was flawed and I needed to find a new one. That is where this recipe came from. It is pretty close to the one that my mom made, with just a few miner adjustments. I usually double the recipe too so that it spreads thicker

English Toffee

14 Tablespoons of Butter
1 Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons of cold water
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans (optional)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
6 Oz Chocolate Chips

Butter a cookie sheet and set aside

Put butter, sugar and water in a heavy pan or skillet. Bring to a bubbling boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Remove the spoon from the pan (this is very important, you have to leave it alone) and cook to a very brittle stage (about 300-310 on a candy thermometer or you can do a cold water test) Remove from heat and add the pecans and the vanilla. Pour onto the cookie sheet and spread it evenly. Let it to cool slightly and them put the chocolate chips on top. Spread them as they melt. Cool completely and then break into pieces.

Variations:
You can chop the nuts and put on top after the chocolate melts instead of inside the toffee

After the chocolate melts you can put crushed candy canes on top

You can do all kinds of things, be creative

Sugar Cookies

The Christmas season got a little away from me this year. I had grand plans of posting all sorts of recipes, and here we are on Christmas Eve and I have only posted one. I am going to post a few today, they won't have pictures, but still really good recipes.
This is by far my favorite sugar cookie recipe. I love soft fluffy sugar cookies, not the thin crispy kind, and this recipe fits the bill!! It has a ridiculous amount of baking powder in it, and I love them. Once you put the frosting on, they are delightful. It might be a little late for this year, but hold onto this one for next year, or Valentines day, or Easter!

Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Butter
1 Egg
4 1/2 Cups Flour
1 1/4 Teaspoon Baking soda
4 teaspoon Baking powder (yes, 4)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 Cup Milk

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter, sugar and eggs. Combine all the dry ingredients, add to the butter mixture. Add milk and vanilla. Roll out the dough pretty thick, you will need a lot of flour on the counter and on your rolling pin. Cut out the shapes and put them about an inch apart on the cookie sheet (they grow) and bake for about 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of cookie.

Frosting (I am a big fan of a buttercream type frosting, so that is what this is. I know some people like the royal icing type, because it looks prettier, too each there own)

2 Cups Powdered Sugar *
1/3 Cup butter room temperature
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla
1-2 Tablespoons of Milk (add more if it is too thick)

Combine all the ingredients, if you want a double layer of frosting or you are planning on piping on the frosting double the above recipe

Buttery Sandwich Cookies

Tis the season for all kinds of crazy baking. I spent the entire day yesterday baking, so I will be posting several recipes over the next few days. I first came across this lovely little cookie last year and I made it for the family and it was a HUGE hit. The cookie is super buttery, but it has no sugar in it, so you definitely need the filling, but together they are buttery goodness!!

COOKIES:
2 cups butter, softened (4 sticks)
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
4 cups flour
.
Cream softened butter, gradually adding flour, then cream. Roll onto a generously floured surface, approximately 1/4 inch thick, and cut into 2 inch circles (or another small cookie cutter shape). Prick each cookie with a fork three times and back for 7-9 minutes at 375 degrees.

* I found these cookies to be VERY delicate, so I froze them after they cooled slightly, which helped them hold up while I frosted them.
.
FILLING:
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1.5 cups powdered sugar
4 Tbs. heavy cream
2 teas. vanilla
.
Combine filling ingredients and spread between two cookies.
.
Yields 50-60 sandwich cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutter.

PS. You will think that there is not enough filling, but there will be plenty, so load they up because the filling is the best part

Monkey Munch, Puppy Chow...Blah Blah

I have heard this called several different things, Monkey Munch, Puppy Chow, whatever you want to call it, it is really good!! And it is very easy to make.

Monkey Munch

1 Cup Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
1/4 Cup Butter

Melt all the above ingredients. Microwave for 1 minute, stir, microwave another 30 seconds until smooth
Add 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla.

Pour over 9 cups of cereal (corn chex, rice chex, cripix something along those lines) and toss until coated.
Pour cereal into a ziploc bag. Pour 1.5 cups of powdered sugar into bag and toss until coated.

***If you eat the whole bag, make sure you check your shirt for the evidence or it the powdered sugar will give it away!

Thanksgiving Post Mortem

So Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was pretty darn good!! We had a lot to be thankful this year, and the food was amazing. Here is a quick re-cap
Turkey- I did a couple of things differently this year, and it was well worth it. First, I ordered a fresh, organic turkey from Whole Foods. It is a quite a bit more expensive, but I think it was worth it. I also brined the turkey. We have all been hearing about brining over the last few years, but I was always afraid of doing it. Let me tell you, brining more than lived up to the hype. It was juicy and glorious, it looked like a turkey out of a magazine!!
Stuffing-I made a ciabatta bacon stuffing that was also very popular. I usually don't even eat stuffing, but this stuff was stinkin good!!
Green Bean Casserole-Homemade green bean casserole (not with condensed soup) with bacon and a yummy creamy cheese sauce. It was fantastic. It had all the joy of a traditional green bean casserole, but with a little kick
Mashed Potatoes-You cannot have Thanksgiving without them!! They were creamy and I added fresh thyme and they were GOOD!
Rolls- I made homemade yeast rolls and they were pretty good. Not the best I have ever had, but my quest continues. We did have some dough left though so I made a pan of cinnamon rolls for the next morning, and they were pretty decadent.

Dessert-We had a snicker cake (which is exactly what it sounds like, a chocolate cake with caramel and nuts..yummo) Pumpkin butter cake, it is a gooey pumpkin cake with LOTS of butter in it, very rich, and delicious. My sister is against pie (she is a little goofy) so we didn't have any, I am a little distressed about this, and I might have to make an apple pie just for myself. I haven't decided yet.

I hope that you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving and that you reveled in all your thankfulness!!

Now, onto the Christmas Baking season, MY FAVORITE Stay tuned for LOTS of recipes

Thanksgiving!!

I LOVE Thanksgiving. I look forward to it every year. I love all the basic Thanksgiving foods, I try not to get too crazy. Turkey (of Course) mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing (for my hubby, I could do without it, but he would reevaluate our relationship if I didn't make it) green bean casserole (for my sister) my grandmother's homemade rolls (I have not perfected these yet, but I will save that for another post) Dessert is always my downfall, I want to make several different ones, and we end up eating pie for the next 2 weeks. I am going to try and limit those this year. This year I am going to make homemade green bean casserole, instead of the one with condensed soup. Here is a link to the recipe, it looks fantastic. I will keep you posted!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/not-your-mamas-green-bean-casserole-recipe/index.html

Gobble Gobble!!

Apple Fritters

This post is a lot about my dad. My dad LOVES doughnuts! When I was a kid he took me and my sister to get donuts almost every Saturday. I remember one time we all thought he was at work and we went to pick up something at the dry cleaners, which happened to be right next door to his favorite doughnut shop. When we pulled his car was outside and he was sitting in there eating his doughnuts and drinking his coffee. There were 2 that he frequented, one by our house, and one by his office. So, if he wasn't around, you could usually find him at one of those.
So, Dad, this is for you!! I made apple fritters and they were awesome! You can dust them with powdered sugar, or make a glaze for them, either way, they are yummy.

Apple Fritters (adapted from the Pioneer Woman)

FRITTERS

• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• ½ cups Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• 2-¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1-¼ teaspoon Salt
• 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
• 2 whole Large Eggs
• ¾ cups Whole Milk
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
• 2 whole Granny Smith Apples, Peeled And Diced
• Powdered Sugar (optional, For Dusting)
• GLAZE (optional)
• 1-½ cup Powdered Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Vanilla
• ¼ cups Milk

Preparation Instructions

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, then add milk, melted butter, and vanilla.

Gently fold dry and wet ingredients together until just combined (do not overmix.) Fold in apples. Add enough apples to make a very chunky batter. You want the apples to shine though!

Heat a couple of inches of canola oil over medium to medium-low heat. When it gets hot, drop a little drop of batter into the oil. If it sizzles immediately and rises to the top, the oil is ready; if it burns quickly, turn down the heat.

Drop teaspoons of batter into the hot oil, six or eight at a time. Sometimes they’ll flip over by themselves; sometimes you have to flip them. Just watch them and make sure they don’t get too brown, but cook them long enough to make sure the batter’s cooked through, about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes total.

Remove and drain on a paper towel. Dust very generously with powdered sugar, or dip fritters in a light doughnut glaze (mix all glaze ingredients together, then dunk warm fritters).

Serve warm!

**May be heated up the next day in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes.

Finished Product, dusted with powdered sugar!!

Lemon Cupcakes with Blueberry Buttercream

These were a yummy summertime treat. The lemon cupcake was just the right amount of lemon flavor and the blueberry buttercream was a great color, and soooo yummy. I found a similar recipe for the buttercream with blueberry preserves, but I wanted to use fresh blueberries, so I made a blueberry syrup. I added the syrup to a basic buttercream and it turned out fantastic!! I realize this is not seasonally appropriate now, but you can save it until next Summer

Blueberry Syrup
11 oz Blueberries (mashed up)
1/2 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup water

Boil until it reduces and it is a thick syrup (about 15 minutes), cool until ready to use
This makes a TON of syrup, so you can freeze it and use it something else later

Lemon Cupcakes (makes 24 cupcakes)
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest (or 1 tsp lemon extract)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract.
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350, grease or put liners in 24 muffin cups
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl
Cream together the butter and sugar, add eggs 1 at a time. Add the lemon zest and the vanilla.
Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk in 3 batches until combined.
Bake for 16-19 minutes and let cool on a wire rack before frosting


Blueberry Buttercream

3 C confectioners' sugar, sifted (add more until it reaches your preferred consistency)
1 C butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)
1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
4 Tbs blueberry syrup (you can add more if it is not enough blueberry
flavor, but you might have to add more powdered sugar to stiffen it up, just play it by ear)

Beat butter until fluffy, add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Add vanilla and whipping cream. Add blueberry syrup until desired blueberry flavor and color.Look how pretty it is!! :)

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Let me start out by saying that yeast is my nemesis. I have always struggled with it, and a few years ago I swore it off completely. When I was a kid my grandmother always made rolls that were amazing and I tried for years to duplicate them and I was unable to. After last Thanksgiving, I decided that I would never be able to, so I QUIT. But, I have a weakness for cinnamon bread, I think it is delicious!! It is sweet, but not too sweet. I went through 3 rounds before I was successful, but I was determined. I had trouble getting it to rise, probably because I keep my house pretty cool, but I researched and found a few tricks. The way that worked the best for me was putting a pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil and then place the water on the bottom shelf, and put the dough on the top shelf, and VOILA! The moisture gets trapped in the oven and makes it rise beautifully.
Here is the recipe!!
(Look how pretty it is)


Ingredients:
(dough)
1/2 cup milk
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 package dry active yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1/2 cup warm water
1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra

(filling and glaze)
1/4 cup sugar
5 tsp ground cinnamon
milk for brushing
1 large egg
2 tsp milk

Instructions:
Begin with the dough. Heat milk and butter together in a small saucepan until butter melts. Cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, sprinkle yeast over warm water in a large bowl. Using a wooden spoon, stir slowly in a circular motion while adding sugar, eggs, salt and lukewarm milk mixture. Continue stirring a bit more quickly, and add 2 cups of flour until mixed thoroughly, then add remaining 1 1/4 cups flour until mixed through. Add more flour if dough seems extremely sticky. Remove dough from bowl, and knead on a floured surface for about 10 minutes, adding more flour as necessary, until dough is smooth and elastic. Place in covered, greased bowl to rise for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until doubled in size. Once risen, punch dough down once in the center, and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix cinnamon and sugar together for filling, and grease 9x5 inch loaf pan. Roll dough into an 8x18 inch rectangle, with the 8 inch side facing toward you. Brush milk over dough, and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over it, leaving a 1/2 inch edge on the side farthest away. Beginning with the side closest to you, roll dough into a log shape, pressing ends together to make sure that it does not become more than 8 inches. Pinch dough ends together to form a tight seam, and push ends of dough toward the center. Pinch outside dough edges together to form a seal. Place the dough seam-side down into the loaf pan, and press down evenly. Let the dough rise more until it is about 1 inch above the edge of the pan (30-60 minutes). Preheat oven to 350, and combine milk with egg. Before baking, brush this mixture over the top of the loaf. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown, and let cool for 45 minutes before serving.

Bacon, Bacon, Bacon

Saturday, September 4 is National Bacon Day!! If there is any food that deserves a day it is definitely bacon. So, in honor of this day I made bacon cupcakes. These cupcakes were born from several different things. A while ago I was watching the Food Network, as I usually am, and they had a show dedicated to bacon, imagine that. And on that show someone made an apple bacon maple doughnut and it looked freakin amazing! I have always been a little against the combination of sweet and salty, but that changed my mind. I made an apple bacon maple cupcake with maple buttercream and garnished it with a little chopped bacon. The result was a yummy salty, mapley (I am not sure if that is a word) cupcake with a great texture. It was sweet, but not too sweet, and when you bite into it you get a little crunch from the bacon and the sweetness from the apples. I know that this sounds weird to some of you, but take it from me, I had my doubts, but they are really good. And, I think because they have bacon in them I can eat them for breakfast too!!
Happy Bacon Day!

Maple Bacon Cupcakes with Apples

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and then cooled
2 eggs
1 tsp maple extract
1/2 cup milk
10-12 slices bacon (chopped)
1 medium apple diced into small pieces (I sauteed the apples in the same pan that I used to cook the bacon, you need to cook the apples first or they will not cook all the way)

Preheat the oven to 350 and line 12 muffin cupsCombine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl

Beat the sugar, eggs, and butter until light and fluffy. Whip in the maple extract. Alternate adding the flour and milk in 3 batches and mix until everything is blended. Fold in the apples and 3/4 of the bacon.

Scoop batter into pan and bake 20-25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool on wire rack




Maple Buttercream

2 cups confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon maple extract
Pinch of salt
If the frosting is too thick you may need to add 1-2 teaspoons of milk

Beat butter until light and fluffy, add confectioners sugar, maple extract, and salt. Blend until desired consistency, you may need to add 1-2 teaspoons of milk if the frosting is too thick.

Frost cooled cupcakes with maple buttercream and garnish with the remainder of the bacon

Vodka Thyme Lemonade

In an effort to cover the cocktail section of this blog, I thought I would post this recipe. It sounds delicious, and the next time I have a boatload of lemons, I am going to make this. The only thing that would make it better is if it had a little mint. Since it is a million degrees outside, I might have to make some this weekend, and then I will be forced to drink it all!! :)



http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/drinks/vodka-thyme-lemonade/

BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER!!

I have struggled with chocolate chip cookie recipes over the years, I have never found one that has made me really happy...until now!! These cookies are amazing. They are a copycat recipe from the Levain bakery in New York City. If you have not heard about it, it is famous for the chocolate chip cookies, they have been on the Food Network. I like them because they don't flatten out. It is a very different recipe than a traditional cookie recipe, it is very specific about the temperature of the ingredients. But trust me, it is GOOD. The recipe calls for nuts and I didn't put them in because I didn't have them, but they don't need them

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter, cool but slightly softened
2 cups light brown sugar
2 eggs, straight from the fridge
2 3/4 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 375

In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle, mix together butter and sugar on low speed until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat on low speed until incorporated.

Add flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips and nuts.

Scoop cookie dough onto parchment lined baking sheet 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake 13-15 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the tops are just lightly browned. (For smaller cookies, of course you'll need to watch them because they'll bake much faster.) Cool completely on wire racks. Store airtight until you eat them all!


Recipe borrowed from howtoeatacupcake.net

Vanilla Bean Paste (product review)

I recently discovered a product called vanilla bean paste. I bought a magazine that had a whole section devoted to vanilla in all it's different forms. There was of course plain old vanilla extract, which is good in a pinch. And the actual vanilla bean, which I enjoy as well. The bean doesn't have as much flavor as the extract, but it has the black flecks which is fun. And you can seep it in liquids and make vanilla flavored things, like simple syrup. You can also make vanilla sugar with the bean!

But my favorite by far is Vanilla bean paste. It is a little expensive (like about $7-$10 for 4 ounces) It lasts for a long time, and it is hard to find. They do not have it at the grocery store, you will have to go to a specialty store or order it online. I found it at a cake decorating store here in Phoenix. I use it in a lot of recipes instead of regular vanilla, and it is awesome in homemade ice cream. It is one of my things to bake with, I made some really yummy butter cream yesterday, stay tuned for the recipe soon