Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Whoopie Pies

The morning’s here in Seattle are dark and gloomy, to the point where I have no idea what time it is when I wake up. For example on Sunday, I arose and saw it was still pitch black out. I figured it must have been 5 in the morning and fell back to sleep for another three hours. It was 11am when I woke up again, which meant it was 8 am when I thought it was 5 am. DOH! The sun need’s to come back; my body cannot handle this weather.

However, I have no right to complain with Frankenstrom barring down on the East Coast.  I hope all my east coast readers are staying safe and dry.  And you’re house has not floated away. If I could, I would totally mail you guys some of these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Whoopie Pies.  Eating these by candlelight makes it acceptable to eat three or four of them.  True Story. Enjoy!
Makes 15 pies

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 8 Tbsp butter – room temp
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup whole milk

Filling

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Whoopie Pies:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, the unsweetened cocoa powder, the salt and the baking soda. In a stand mixture, cream the sugar and the stick of butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract, beat until combined.  Turn your mixer to low and add in half the flour mixture then half the milk. Repeat until all the ingredients are mixed in. Pipe the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the centers are set.
Filling:

In a stand mixer, cream together the two sugars and the stick of butter. Add in vanilla and milk. Slowly add in the flour until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill ziplock or piping bag with cookie dough and pipe onto whoopie pies.

Adapted from Cookies and Cups

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Cranberry Swirled Apple Muffins

I don’t know if anybody else signed up for Online Blogcon but if you haven’t, you should next year! It’s a great conference with all kinds of awesome tips about photography, link parties, recipe development, etc.  My head is swimming with new information.

Oh and these cranberry swirled apple muffins are the bomb. Go make some right this moment. They are sweet, a little bit sour and have a fluffy inside. Enjoy!
Makes 12

Ingredients

Cranberry Filling

• 1/2 cup cranberries
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup sugar

Batter

• 3 cups white whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 6 Oz container of Chobani Yogurt, Apple Cinnamon
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup chopped apple

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F. Spray muffin tin with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Cranberry filling: Place the cranberries, sugar and water in a medium-sized sauce pan. Let it come to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium low and gently boil until mixture has thickened. Set aside.

Prepare the muffins: In a large bowl combine the first three ingredients and set aside. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the milk through the baking soda.  Gently fold wet mixture into the flour, stirring until just combined . Gently fold in the apples and swirl in the cranberry filing.

Spoon the batter into 12 muffin tins. Make sure each one is filled to the very top, that is how you get a perfect risen muffin.  Bake for 5 minutes at 425 degrees, then immediately reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for another 17 minutes.

Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

How I LOVE you Los Angeles

I spent a couple of days in L.A this week, soaking up the sun.  The temperatures where way past my comfort zone with it nearing nineties most days but the frigid ocean does wanders to cool you off. Unfortunately, I didn’t do a whole lot of baking and when I did, it was a complete flop.  Word to the wise, Coca Krispies disappears in batter.  The puppy love I got from my brother’s bulldog made everything better though.  He is the sweetest thing known to man and makes me want an animal to shower my love on.  I also ate my weight in Mexican food.  My guacamole quota is filled for the next three years.  All in all, it was a perfect trip and I can’t wait to come back for Thanksgiving to see my extended family.  Stay tuned for the recipe I have for you on Tuesday.  You won’t want to miss it.  There is donuts and crème involved. Have a great weekend!

Rolo Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

I wish words would flow freely through my fingers onto the keyboard but 85 percent of the time it’s a struggle.  I wouldn’t call it writers block per say, it’s more like the annoying awkward cousin.  You know whom I am talking about. Every family has one.   They make inappropriate jokes that turn up your lips into a half grimace, half-smile.  It’s exhausting being polite sometimes. Anyways, my point is if I force the words to come out, they end up stilted. So normally when it times to a write blog post, it takes all day.  I get up, work on freelance articles, check on twitter and occasionally write a sentence or two.

Yesterday in the middle of this dance I call writing, I got up and made these Rolo Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookie Bars. Oh man, are they sinful. By the way, new favorite word alert! Sinful. I love how it rolls off your tongue. Am I a nerd or what? Don’t answer that. It’s a rhetorical question people, sheesh.  Moving on, these peanut buttery squares ooze with caramel and the chopped up bittersweet chocolate counterbalances the saltness from the peanut butter. Enjoy!

Yield: 32 bars

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 squares of bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup of mini rolos

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan; set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, cream together the brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until creamy and light. Then add the one egg and the vanilla extract, mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add the dry ingredients to the wet batter. Be careful to not over mix. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the chopped bittersweet chocolate. Turn out half the mixture into the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Scatter the rolos on top. Cover with the remaining cookie dough. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until the center is set. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars and store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Maple Pumpkin Pie

This was the pie that wasn’t supposed to happen.  It was 8 a clock on a Tuesday night and I was starving.  Munching on an apple, I impatiently stirred a pot of pasta when my boyfriend told me he would be right back, he was out of soda water.  Before I could yell at him to hurry up because I would gnaw my own arm off if I didn’t get a proper meal soon, he slammed the door shut. Two minutes later, he called me from the grocery store.  The man wanted a pumpkin pie and asked if he should buy one.  Why he thought it was a good idea to insult me with such a ridiculous question, I have no idea. So in my most calm voice, I said “ No, I’ll make you one”

Fast forward two hours later; I was on the ground clutching my hand because our new entertainment center slammed shut on my fingers.  With a bum hand, no pumpkin pie action would happen in our kitchen that night or at least I thought.  My boyfriend has the power of persuasion.  He offered to do everything; all I had to do was direct. An offer he knew I couldn’t refuse.  The next morning when the pie wasn’t a soupy mess anymore, I had a slice for breakfast. It was silky smooth with a hint of maple and tons of flavor from the spices.  Perfecto! Enjoy.

Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients

• 1 8-inch deep-dish pie crust, either store-bought or homemade
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin pie
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch of cloves
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a bowl combine pumpkin, sugar, maple syrup, the spices, and salt. Add eggs; beat with a fork until combined. Gradually add milk; stir until combined. Carefully pour filling in pastry shell. Cover edge of pie crust with foil. Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 25 to 30 minutes more or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate over night.

Adapted from here

Want and Need – October Edition

Green Leather Army Bag, Cute Muffin Pan, Vintage Map Art Print,

Zipper Pouch,Teapot w/ Infuser, Oxford Boyfriend Shirt

It was gorgeous in Seattle this weekend. Clear bright blue skies with highs in the seventies.  Unfortunately for me, I was sick.  If you came over to my apartment, you would have seen me laying on the couch, eyes glued to the television.  It was a marathon of Romantic Comedies on the Hallmark Channel and after the fiftieth one; I wanted to throw my drink at the guy who let the girl get away.  At one point, my boyfriend came home to me muttering angrily to myself.  I think he took that as a sign to wrestle the remote from my hands and kindly guide me back to bed. Between sleeping and watching TV, there was little time to bake anything in the kitchen. Also, I had no motivation except to re-warm soup in the microwave. So, while in a fever-induced haze, I came up with a fun little post to do once a month.  It will be called Want and Need, which will feature the things I am currently in love with this month. Enjoy!

Ginger Creme Brownies

I used to hate ginger and avoid it like the plague.  The spicy warmth when you took a bite out of it didn’t sit well with me.  But then I made these brownies and my whole world was changed.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I still hate pickled ginger like the stuff you get on the side of your plate at a sushi restaurant but Ginger Crème Cookies, man those are good.

I picked up a box at the supermarket the other day for no good reason except they where only 2 boxes left on the shelf. Am I the only who does that? Anyways, I figured they where good if everybody else liked them so I bought them.  Half the box was gone in two days.  Ginger Crème Cookies are like an adult Oreo, taken up a notch.  With the last 12 cookies remaining, I decided to stuff them into a brownie.  Best decision ever. You get the richness of the chocolate mixed with the heat of the ginger mixed with the spices.  So good! Enjoy!

Makes 16

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for baking dish
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• A pinch of cloves
• About 12 crushed Ginger Creme Cookies

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Line bottom with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over 2 sides. Butter parchment; set aside.

On medium to low heat, melt butter and chocolate together in a saucepan, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in remaining ingredients. Fold in the crushed Ginger Creme Cookies. Pour batter into prepared dish and smooth top with a rubber spatula. Bake for  30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Lift out, and let cool completely on rack.

Note: You can find Ginger Creme Cookies in the Supermarket under the cookie section. The ones I used for the recipe were Newman’s Owns Organic-Ginger Oh’s.