Cookies
Gingersnap Balls
If you like gingersnap cookies then you'll enjoy these balls just as much. They are soft and chewy with tons of gingersnap flavor, their great little one bite treats. I prefer using crispy ginger snap cookies but I think this recipe would also work well with other types or crispy cookies too.
Gingersnap Balls
20-30 Gingersnap cookies
2 Tbsp corn syrup
1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1/4 Cup powdered sugar
1) Crush cookies into very fine crumbs using a food processor or in a resealable bag with a rolling pin
2) In a small bowl combine corn syrup, honey, and cream cheese and mix until well combined
3) Add about 20 crushed cookies and mix well (the mixture should hold together on its on without being overly sticky). Continue to add crushed cookies until desired texture is reached (if mixture becomes too dry add a little bit more cream cheese)
4) Roll into 1inch balls and then roll them in powdered sugar, store them in the fridge and enjoy!
Strawberry Themed Engagement Party
A good family friend of mine asked me to bake for her son's engagement party that she was hosting at her house. Since it was the beginning of summer she thought it would be a great idea to take advantage of the local strawberries and asked me to bake her chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry tarts, strawberry shortcakes and strawberry shortbread cookies.
For the chocolate covered strawberries, I thought it would be a cute idea to decorate the strawberries in outfits of chocolate covered wedding dresses and tuxedos. I used semisweet chocolate for the tuxedo jackets and white candy coating for the wedding dresses.
For the shortbread cookies, I got the idea from the Pioneer Woman for this recipe. I thought the combination of shortbread, creamcheese, and strawberries was perfect for a light and sweet simple dessert. I decided to use a flower shaped cookie cutter and sprinkled the dessert with raw sugar to make it look more prettier.
The tarts were very fun to make and I used this vanilla pudding recipe that turned out really well. I didn't have any vanilla beans so I added an extra 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla to the recipe and used 2% milk. I made the pudding the day before assembling and let it sit in the fridge overnight so it was extra vanilla tasting. Hope you enjoyed all the strawberry treats, happy baking!
Ice Cream Sandwiches
A little while back, Archway Cookies sent me an e-mail asking if I wanted to participate in their summer baking contest and I immediately said yes! So last week they sent me a bunch of smaples to bake with for their contest. I've made a few recipes so far using their cookies and I thought I would share them with you one at a time. I started off simple with a classic ice cream sandwiche recipe. I found the classic oatmeal and the dutch cocoa from Archway to be the best to use for the sandwiches because they were perfectly round and very soft and chewy (which I prefer for a sandwich cookie). I used vanilla ice cream for both sandwiches and decorated them with mini chocolate chips and toffee bits to give them a little bit more yumminess. Feel free to use any of your favorite ice creams and decorate them with as much toppings as you like. Think of ice cream sandwiches as sundae's but in the palm of your hand!
Ice Cream Sandwiches
2 Large cookies (I like to use soft and chewy cookies)
Approx. 1/3 Cup ice cream, depending on the size of your cookies
1/4 Cup dessert toppings (ie. chocolate chips, sprinkles, toffee bits, or even blueberries etc.)
1) Lay each cookie face open and spoon ice cream onto one cookie evenly
2) Place other cookie on top of ice cream and lightly press down just until ice cream reaches the edges
3) Sprinkle toppings on ice cream, gently pressing down to keep them in place
4) Cover and store sandwiches in the freezer for 30min or until you want to eat them and enjoy!
Side Note: My boyfriend tried one of these sandwiches after it had been in the freezer for a few days and said it was even better then the day they were made. He said the cookies were softer from the moisture of the ice cream and the ice cream kept its shape better too.
Thin and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Nothing is better than a warm chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven! The other week I went over to my girlfriend's mom's house and she served us warm, chewy, and gooey chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven...I ate 6...but who's counting? After that night, I still had a craving for warm chocolate chip cookies all week. These cookies melted down into thin and chewy wonderful treats with a hint of crispiness on the outside, they definately satisfied my cravings.This recipe tastes good either right out of the oven or even a week later with a big glass of milk.
Thin and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
3/4 Cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 Cup packed brown sugar
3/4 Cup white granulated sugar
2 Large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Cups flour
1 1/2 Cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1) Preheat oven to 350F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper
2) In a large bowl cream together butter and both sugars
3) Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined
4) Stir in baking soda, salt, and flour until dough comes together
5) Stir in chocolate chips, then scoop 1 Tbsp of dough onto prepared cookie sheets and bake for 12min or until edges begin to turn golden
6) Let cool on wire racks for 5min then begin eating cookies warm or store them in an air tight container to enjoy all week!
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
It was one of my work friends birthdays this week and she had to work a shift that day with me so I said I would make her anything she wanted. She told me she wanted anything with peanut butter and chocolate in it so I decided to use one of The Pioneer Woman's recipes and followed her instructions for her Cookie Dough and Candy Recipe. The grocery store had all of their Easter chocolates on sale so I decided to take advantage and stock up.
The 'Somewhat' Healthy Cookie
My friend called me the other day telling me that he was looking on my website for a healthy cookie recipe. He said the only one he could find that wasn't too sweet for him was the breakfast cereal cookie but he didn't have any Corn Flakes on hand. So I decided to make this cookie just for him. I decided to call it the 'somewhat' healthy cookie because I did use a fair bit of sugar still and I added chocolate chips (but only because my boyfriend asked me too) but feel free to omit them if you like or substitue them for nuts.
Jam Thumprint Cookies
I've had this saskatoon berry jam in my cupboard for quite some time now and have been very curious to see what it taste like. I decided to make a classic baked jam treat: jam thumbprint cookies. These types of cookies used to be one my favorites growning up. My mom would buy this big round tin from the grocery store when I was younger and it would be filled with an assortment of cookies but I would always eat the jam filled ones first. This recipe is easy enough to make and the cornmeal gives the cookies a nice texture. Whats great about these cookies is that you can use any type of jam depending on your preference.
Mocha Mint Cookies
I went to this restaurant one night and ordered this drink called Matty's Mint Mudslide and it had to be one of the best beverages I've had. It was like a mocha milkshake with a hint of mint flavor. I was craving one of them today and was too lazy to go back to the restaurant so I decided to recreate the drink into a cookie form. They turned out great, very soft and chewy, and definately satisfied my craving. The were full of chocolate flavor and had just enough hints of mint and coffee flavors that weren't too overpowering.
Cake Crumb Oatmeal Cookies
I decided to try out a new recipe the other day from a cookbook that my mom gave me a long time ago. The recipe didn't exactly turn out as planned (I've decided to blame the recipe in the cookbook rather than blame myself on the mistake) and I ended up with a plate full of cake crumbs. I hate wasting food and I don't have that much money right now to spend on ingredients, so I could either A) eat all the crumbs to myself or B) find some other recipe to use them in. Thanks to my wonderful friend Google, I was able to discover this website and used the recipe called 'Cake Crumb Cookies' from ICES article 1-94 by Carl Nixon-TX.
Christmas Sugar Cut-Out Cookies
It's the season for cookies! What better way to start it off than with loads and loads of Chirstmas decorated sugar cookies. The wonderful company of Ann Clark Cookie Cutters sent me some samples to try out and I decided to put them to the test today! The cookie cutters are adorable (they have a huge variety of different collections), easy to use (they all have big handles to help you) and very big (the bigger the cookie, the better!!)
