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Sunday, October 17, 2010

Pink Ribbon Brownies

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For our engagement party, we received a Cricut Cake!!!  If you are familiar with the Cricut machines for paper, it basically is a little plotter that allows you to cut out any shape you want.  The Cake version can cut sheets of frosting, fondant and gum paste and makes fancy cake decorating 900 million times easier.  We finally got to use our new machine when we made Brownies to be sold to benefit Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

SMS: Roasted Cashew Brittle

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This week, it's my turn to host Sweet Melissa Sundays!  Last time I hosted it was August 2, 2009 so I was so excited to finally host again.  We have been baking along to the Sweet Melissa Baking Book since April of 2009, so a good deal of the recipes from the book have already been selected and baked.  We've made so many delicious things over the past year and a half!   Can you believe we've been doing this that long already?

For the recipe this week, I selected the Roasted Cashew Brittle.  I've never made brittle before and I love cashews so I thought this would be a fun recipe.  I prepared the recipe word for word from the Sweet Melissa Baking Book, no substitutions or changes.  I'm hosting, so I didn't want to mess anything up!  It was actually a rather quick and easy process.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Cookies On Demand


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There are two reasons I'm calling these chocolate chip cookies "Cookies on Demand".  
1- The recipe doesn't require softened butter.  So no waiting for butter to come to room temperature, you can use it straight out of the fridge.
2- I prepared the recipe, rolled the dough into balls and baked a few to have that night.  Then I froze the rest of the dough balls on a cookie sheet until they were hard, and placed them in airtight container where they stayed until I had a cookie craving.  Want a cookie?  Just grab two (because no one can eat just one fresh baked cookie) out of your freezer, pop it on a cookie sheet and bake it up.

These cookies have a nice sturdy, crispy exterior and a perfect chewy interior.  They don't flatten out all the way while baking and have a little bit of thickness to them.  Pretty close to perfect if you ask me.

Cookies on Demand, adapted from The Ultimate Stand Mixer Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe
makes about 25-30 cookies
11.25 ounces all purpose flour (about 2.5 cups)
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/8 tsp fine sea salt
8 ounces unsalted butter, cold
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 c granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 3/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 C white chocolate chips
1 C hershey's dark chocolate chips

Preheat to 400 F. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cold butter.  Add both sugars and continue to beat for 4-5 minutes on medium.
In a separate bowl, mix eggs with vanilla.  Very slowly (over about 4-5 minutes) add this to the butter mixture.  
Stir in the dry ingredients by hand.  Lastly add in the chocolate chips.
Shape the dough by the mounded tablespoon.  
--If you are making them right away, place dough balls on a parchment or silpat lined cookie sheet and bake for about 6-9 minutes, or until edges are golden brown but still pale in the center.  Allow to sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on the cooling rack.  
--If you are making them to freeze them and have On Demand, lay out the dough balls on a parchment lined cookie sheet and place in the freezer until completely firm.  When hard, place in an airtight container until ready to bake.  If baked from frozen, bake at 400 F, but for 8-10 minutes.

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