Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies

After I made these cookies, I realized that I definitely want basic chocolate chip cookie ingredients in my house available at all times when I'm a grandmother. It would be so awesome to have my house constantly smelling of fresh baked cookies. Mmmm. Anyhoo, these cookies turned out melty, chewy, and pretty much amazing.

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• (it's optional to add 1 cup of chopped nuts)

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Then add the eggs one at a time. Add vanilla goodness.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Fold in nuts and chocolate chips.
3. Shape into little 2" balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes. (This makes for a lightly golden-brown bottom and a chewy center that finishes cooking on the baking sheet)

Yum!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Honey Peanut Butter Filling and Peanut Butter Buttercream

Wow! That title is a mouthful-- just like these delicious cupcakes I made for my beloved for our seven year anniversary! And of course, I had to go for the chocolate and peanut butter flavor combo, since it's his favorite (and hey, it's scrumptious!)

So I had been bargain shopping a little bit ago, and I came across a Paula Deen brand of chocolate cupcake mix.

It was for 12 cupcakes, so I figured it was the perfect number for two people to enjoy (right..?) I started by following the box directions then popped the cupcakes in the oven.

I had used cute little heart cupcake cups, but of course the design disappeared because they were included in my bargain shopping as well. I have yet to try those Reynold's cups... Anyhoo!

Meanwhile, I mixed up some peanut butter buttercream. This recipe is enough to cover these twelve cupcakes with a low swirl. For a high over-the-top swirl, try doubling it.

• 1/4 cup (half stick) of butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk or cream

1.) Cream the butter and the peanut butter together. Then add about half of the confectioner's sugar.
2.) Stop the mixer to add the milk, then add the rest of the confectioner's sugar.
3.) Mix until smooth and remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl! :)

After the cupcakes were cooled, I cut a little hole into the center of each cupcake...

And I filled them with honey peanut butter (sooo good!)

A swirl of buttercream and some little heart picks, and our anniversary cupcakes were a go! They were very moist, and that burst of peanut butter tasted perfect!

Ohh yeeeah!

Oh, yeah... he doesn't like his picture taken. Tee hee!

I am the Owner of the Coolest Pair of Sneakers

As a little sidenote: my beloved gave me some adorable Converse Chuck Taylor shoes for Christmas. I had designed them myself at the Converse website a little while ago and emailed the design to him then sort of forgot about them. To my surprise, I had these babies on my feet Christmas day!

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Since there's a definite snow-blivion going on outside (yes, in Virginia Beach, VA), I'm in the mood for baking. What to bake? Well, I just have this cream cheese getting to room temp on the counter, a couple of sticks of butter that are begging to be melted, and a yummy can of pumpkin puree. Hmmm.... Paula Deen's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake! A couple of people I know that have made this cake and they LOVED it, even non-pumpkin-lovers. So of course, I just had to try it! Be forewarned: this recipe involves 2 sticks of butter! This is not for the health-conscious! The recipe goes a little like this:

Cake Bottom:

• 1 (18 1/4 oz) package yellow cake mix (I used butter recipe golden)
• 1 egg
• 8 tbsp (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling:

• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (15 oz)n can pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 tbsp (1 stick) butter, melted
• 16 oz of powdered sugar (about 2 cups)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 baking dish (I used an 8 x 8 Pyrex dish)
2. Combine cake mix, egg, and 1 stick melted butter into a bowl and mix with electric mixer (you can use an old-fashioned wooden spoon). Pat the mixture into the bottom of the baking dish.

3. For the filling: In a large bowl (this part I used the Kitchenaid for), beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the 3 eggs, the melted butter, and the vanilla.

 4. Add the powdered sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, and mix well (don't forget to scrape down those sides!)

5. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake bottom and bake for 40-50 minutes for the 13 x  9 and about 55-65 minutes for the 8 x 8. The center should be a little gooey-- set, but gooey.

Gooey success!

For best results, serve with whipped cream (as seen above).

Some variations I found were a chocolate peanut butter flavor (with chocolate cake mix and 1 cup peanut butter used instead of pumpkin) and a pineapple flavor (with 1 cup crushed pineapple instead of pumpkin).

Christmas Festivities: Gingerbread House

My beloved and I decided to begin the tradition of gingerbread house-making for the holiday season. We started with a Deluxe Wilton Gingerbread House Kit (found at the craft store). We mixed the royal icing then got to work constructing our delicious domicile.

Let me tell ya, keeping those walls to hold together was a challenge. But we sang Christmas songs as we held the walls in place. Apparently, you're supposed to let it sit for several hours at this point so the royal icing can dry... but we didn't figure that out until after we finished the whole house (whoops)... so we moved on to decorating.

You know you like our gumdrop bush clusters

And this is the finished house on its goods side...

Up next year: a Gothic castle with a working chocolate fountain and an egg nog moat. We'll see how that works out, since this is our first gingerbread house!

Word to the wise: Do not attempt eating the house or the candy that comes with it... It is not flavorful and it is pretty much for looks.

Merry Christmas, everyone!!

Cupcake Makers, Eh?

I've been looking through lots of ads for last-minute Christmas shopping ideas, and I keep coming across different cupcake makers. Apparently, most department stores are carrying it-- including JC Penney and Kohl's. They carry the Babycakes cupcake maker( by Select Brands, Inc.) that makes 8 mini cupcakes in less than 10 minutes. It includes a recipe book, a piping bag, a few tips, and "crust-cutting tools." (??) It costs about $30 and it has an interesting old school look about it...

Courtesy Select Brands, Inc.

Sunbeam also has a cupcake maker called Pattie. This makes 6 cupcakes in about 10 minutes and doesn't seem to include any accessories. This one has a more fun look.

Courtesy Sunbeam

This one costs about $40 and can be found in just about the same department stores.

So, readers, have any of you tried one of these? Do they make delicious, moist cuppin' cakes? Let me know! I'm curious!

*Oh, and what is this crust-cutting toolage?

Sample Machine Cake

My dear brother recently celebrated his 30th birthday (which was also a special birthday--30 on the 30th!) so I just had to make him an awesome cake! He has been making beats for several years, and music is his passion, so I wanted to make something that embodied that. Then I thought, "why not make a cake that looks like his sample machine?" I started with a white cake recipe from allrecipes.com

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Baker's Joy a 9x9 inch pan ( I used an 8x8)or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2) In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. 

3) Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan. 

 
4) Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.* For my 8x8 pan, it took about an hour*

While the cake was baking, I worked on a Ghirardelli Chocolate Buttercream recipe:

• 4 ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Bar ( I used semi-sweet chips)
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cups hot milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoons salt

1) In heavy saucepan on low heat, melt broken chocolate with butter, stirring constantly. 

2) Beat sugar with milk, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Add melted chocolate, and beat until thick enough to spread on cake. 

After the cake had cooled, I cut a layer, and added some frosting and Heath bits.

After covering the cake in fondant, I went to work on some details.

Little knob detail...

And here was my reference...

Courtesy  zzounds.com

He loved it!