Monster Cookies

It's back to school time again! This is always an exciting time of the year. It means fall is just around the corner, and fall is my favorite season. I would like to share my recipe for Monster Cookies with you guys. These cookies have everything but the kitchen sink in them. They are fun to make and fun to eat. Kids (and adults) will love them.

Ingredients:

1 1/2c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. butter, room temperature

1c. chunky peanut butter
2c. quick-cooking oats

1c. all-purpose flour

3 eggs

1 T. vanilla extract

1 1/4 t. baking soda

1 1/4 t. baking powder

1/4t. salt

1c. plain M&M candies

1c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2. c. raisins

1c. pretzels, lightly crushed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350˚F. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, peanut butter, and brown and white sugars together with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition .Mix in vanilla extract.  Next add in all dry ingredients: flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt mix until well combined. Once cookie dough is well mixed, stir in candies, chocolate chips, raisins and pretzels by hand with wooden spoon. Make sure all ingredients are evenly distributed. Drop cookies on to baking sheet, using a tablespoon, cookie scoop or small ice cream scoop. Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Let cookies rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then place them on wire rack to cool. Enjoy!
Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies. 

Feel free to add in whatever you like. I'm a bit of a choc-a-holic so I used M&M's and chocolate chips but you don't have to. Also, because I used pretzels I omitted table salt from the recipe. I love experimenting with different textures and flavors. Just use whatever you have on hand, there are no rules when it comes to baking except to always be creative and have fun. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I hope you give these cookies a try, and make sure to share them with someone you love. 

Classic Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients

Cake

1. 2 1/2c. cake flour

2. 1/4c. unsweetened cocoa powder                          

3. 2 c. sugar

4. 1 1/2c. oil

5. 2 eggs

6. 1 tsp. salt

7. 1c. buttermilk

8. 1 T. white vinegar

9. 2oz. red food coloring

10. 1 1/2t. baking soda

11. 1 t. vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

1. 8 oz package cream cheese, room temperature

2. 3/4c.. unsalted butter, room temperature

3. 1/2c. vegetable shortening

4. 1 1/2 t. pure vanilla extract

5. 8c. powdered sugar, sifted

6. 1/2c. milk

Directions

for the cake:

Preheat oven to 375˚F. Spray baking pan(s) with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, salt and cocoa powder and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine oil and sugar (beat with electric mixer for approximately 2 minutes or until well combined.) Next mix the eggs in one at a time. Add vanilla extract and red food coloring until well blended. Slowly add flour mixture to wet ingredients alternating with the buttermilk. In a separate bowl combine vinegar and baking soda then add mixture to the rest of ingredients. Mix all ingredients until well blended for a few seconds, making sure to scrape down sides of the bowl. Pour batter into prepared baking pan(s), bake for 30-35 or until a toothpick can be inserted into center of cake and is removed clean. Let cake rest in baking pan(s) for 10 minutes, then remove onto wire cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.

for the frosting:

In a mixing bowl, combine room temperature cream cheese, butter, and shortening together until well blended. Add in vanilla extract. Mix in powdered sugar until all ingredients are well blended. Slowly add milk into the mixture, little bits at a time. Frosting should be smooth and creamy in texture. If frosting is too thin add more powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. Likewise, if frosting is too stiff add in milk one tablespoon at a time. Frost cake using an offset spatula. Decorate and garnish as desired. 

This weekend my little sister graduated with her master's degree in social work. So proud of her! This special cake was created by me to celebrate her achievements. Congratulations Merry! 

White Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling and White Chocolate Ganache

White Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling and White Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

Cake

1. 3 1/2 c. cake flour

2. 4 tsp baking powder.

3. 1 1/3 c. whole milk

4. 1 t. double-strength vanilla extract

5. 8 egg whites

6. 3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

7. 1 c. granulated sugar

8. 1/2 c. sour cream

Raspberry Curd Filling

1. 1/2 c. unsalted butter

2. 1 pint fresh raspberries or 12oz package of frozen raspberries, thawed

3. 5 large egg yolks, slightly beaten

4. 3/4 c. granulated sugar

5. 2-3 tsp. fresh lemon juice

White Chocolate Ganache

1. 8oz white chocolate for baking

2. 2/3 c. heavy whipping cream

Frosting

1. 6oz white chocolate for baking, chopped

2. 8oz cream cheese, softened

3. 1/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

4. 1/2 t. double-strength vanilla extract

5. 2 c. powdered sugar

Directions

for the cake:

Preheat oven to 325˚F. Spray two 8" baking pans with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. Combine flour and baking soda in small mixing bowl, whisk together and set aside. Combine milk and vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup and set aside. In a large mixing bowl (stainless steel is best), beat egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form and set aside. In a separate mixing bowl cream together the softened butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy; beat in sour cream until smooth. On medium speed, alternating with milk mixture add flour mixture in small amounts mixing until smooth. Whisk in one-third of egg whites, then fold in the rest. Divide batter evenly between baking pans. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted in center and comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes then remove from pans. Cool completely before frosting.

for the ganache

Place chocolate and cream in a double broiler or heavy sauce pan. Cook on very low heat just until chocolate is melted, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight. Beat chilled ganache with an electric mixer and set aside until ready to use.  

for the raspberry curd

Melt butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add raspberries, egg yolks, sugar and salt, mash berries as you cook. Stir frequently at first, then constantly at the end, until thickened. This will take approx. 10 minutes. Pour the mixture through a mesh strainer over a bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Let cool to room temperature, the mixture will thicken as it cools. Stir in lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

for the frosting

Melt chocolate in microwave on high 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, stirring every 30 sec until mostly melted. Let stand for 3 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine melted chocolate, cream cheese, butter and vanilla, beat on medium speed until well mixed. Gradually add powdered sugar, beat well until spreading consistency.

Assembly

place one layer cake on cake board, spoon the white chocolate ganache in the center of cake and spread to edges using an off set spatula creating an even layer. Spread the raspberry curd on top of the ganache layer. Place the second cake layer on top of fillings and cover entire cake with white chocolate frosting using off set spatula. Decorate as desired. Garnish with fresh raspberries, white chocolate truffles, or white chocolate curls. 

I made this cake for my little sister's 20th Birthday. It's full of some of her favorite things, raspberries and sunflowers. I hope she loves it!

Red, White, and Blue

Happy 4th of July everybody! These are my patriotic red, white and blue cupcakes. They are a white cake with red and blue sprinkles mixed in the batter for a "confetti" cake look. The flag design on top is made from small vanilla buttercream rosettes. Thanks for visiting my blog! I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday.

Confetti Cake

This particular cake was for my big sister, Stephanie. She is truly a super star! She loves confetti cake. I made this cake using a cake mix, you can find several different varieties of "confetti" cake mixes. My favorite one is rainbow chip by Betty Crocker. It's frosted with ready to use rainbow chip icing by Betty crocker. It is also very easy to make your own version, just add multi-colored sprinkles to white cake batter and vanilla icing.

Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients:                                                        
2 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. butter
1 1/4c. sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 c. milk

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. Grease
and flour muffin cups, or spray with baking spray and flour.

2.In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt; set aside

3. In large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on medium speed 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 c. at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping bowl occasionally. Beat 2 minutes longer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture, about 1/3 of mixture at a time, and milk, about 1/2 at a time, beating just until blended.

4. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.

5. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans; place on cooling racks to cool. Frost with chocolate buttercream.
*Recipes for cupcakes and frosting from Betty Crocker's the Big Book of Cupcakes
Frosting Recipe:

Combine 3oz unsweetened baking chocolate melted and cooled and 1/2c. butter softened in large bowl. Stir in 3 cups powdered sugar. Beat in 2 teaspoons of vanilla and 3 to 4 tablespoons of milk until smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, add more milk. Or, if frosting is too thin add more powdered sugar. Frosts 24 regular cupcakes.

All-Star Graduation...

I made these cookies for my sister's kindergarten students' graduation. They all loved them so much, they even made me thank you cards. How sweet!

These are just a simple sugar cookie with vanilla icing, decorated with large confetti sprinkles.

Click here for the cookie recipe