Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had an extra bag of Heath Bar chips laying around (I wasn't sure how much the cupcakes would of needed so I bought 2 bags just to be safe) and I was thinking what could I do with them?  Why not make some cookies.  Quick and easy, everyone loves cookies.  My Dad is a giant cookie fan, and he loves toffee so this was a no brainer.  And I could eat a little cookie dough as I was making cookies :) 



i <3 cookie dough


I was debating with myself whether I should have just all toffee chips or toffee chips and chocolate chips.  I ended up with using both chips.  They turned out really good with both.  I scooped them out and into the oven they went.  Soon I had cooling trays full of cookies. 

mmm...cookie

Once they were mostly cooled, I packed some up and went to my parents house to sit by the pool.  My dad was so excited.  Needless to say the cookies didn't last long.  I had also brought him some of the Heath Bar Cupcakes - so he was extremely happy. 

Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies



2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 sticks butter, room temp

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup Heath Bar toffee chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats. In a bowl whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.  Set aside. 
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla extract.  Slowly add dry ingredients until combined.  Add both chips and stir until combined.
3. Scoop out 2" of dough onto prepared cookie sheets.  Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, 9-11 minutes, or until cookie is golden brown.  Transfer to wire racks to cool. 

Heath Bar Cupcakes

I saw this recipe last month and printed it out and set it aside to make later that week.  A month and a half later I finally got around to it.  I got Heath Bar Cupcakes from My Baking Addiction (where else right?).  The whole site is great - easy short cuts for those of you who aren't fans of baking from scratch all the time - it's a lot of doctored box cake mix recipes - but you could always use your favorite from scratch recipe for the cupcake part - I do it all the time for things. 

The batter comes together real easy, and before you know it they are in and out of the oven.  Then comes the fun part - decorating these things.  I love frostings - especially good ones.  If it's not good frosting on a cake/cupcake, I'm not going to eat it.   Wrong, I know - but I've got high standards of baked goods after all these years. 


i see Heath bits popping out


Once frosted, time for the ganache part.  I'm not a fan of the ganache that she uses - it's the same for the Rolo Cupcakes and it wasn't really a ganache, well it was but I've never seen one with honey in it.  So I decided to use something that I love to kick these bad boys up a notch - use the filling that I use for Chocolate Shortbreads - awesome idea.   It's thicker and better tasting. And it didn't run all over the place - stayed on top of the cupcake :)  Then top it off with some Heath Bar bits and you're good to go. 

yumm

After they firmed up in the fridge for a while, off I went to play treat fairy to some of my favorite taste testers.  The look on one of their faces when I went in to give them treats was priceless....she was very excited about them.  I also got to bring some to one of my best friends when I had our monthly dinner with him last night - really the only way we get to see each other, and it's always a good time.  And he likes it because I always bring him treats to try.  Last time I had brought him Cookie Dough Cupcakes and he had devoured it - in like less than a minute.  So we said that we would tape him eating a cupcake next time - but all we got was a photo - I promise a video will be put up of him one day.  But he is a huge fan of these cupcakes....

happy camper

....and kept talking about the cookie dough ones.  So print it out and bake away!! This is an easy cupcake and very delicious :)

Cinnamon Raisin Bread x2

It's hot and humid here, and when I woke up yesterday one of the first thoughts I had was 'It's perfect weather for breadmaking'.  Last time I made bread it didn't turn out so great.  It didn't proof right, well one loaf did and the other didn't.  Not exactly sure where I went wrong with it.  So I was in the mood to make bread and it was going to work this time.  I get to work making it and start to wait for it to work it's magic and rise.  I go through all the steps and get to the last one where you put it in the loaf pans to rise one more time before you bake it.  And wouldn't you know it that it happened again - one loaf raised (a little - not like it should of) and the other just stayed the same.  FAIL. 

Frustrated, I threw them all away.  I didn't want to look at bread for a while, let alone think about it.  But it was eating away at me.  And while I was getting dinner ready, I decided that once dinner was in the oven, I was going to make bread - and it was going to be amazing.  I was going to show yeast, yet again, who was boss.  And I won :)  I was extremely happy when the dough had proofed really well on the first round - better than it had in my earlier batch.  I knew there wouldn't be any issues this time.  I happily let it keep proofing while my sisters and I watched some tv.  Once I put the bread into the oven, they kept saying that it smelled so good and that they wanted a piece of it.  And this was coming from Ween, she doesn't eat cinnamon raisin bread.  Once they were done, I took them out to cool.  I was so happy.  They baked up nicely, a little too dark - I really need to get my oven checked.

so pretty

I went to bed happy that they turned out so well, and excited for the morning so I could eat a piece for breakfast.  When I got up, I came into the kitchen and cut into one of these bad boys.

delicious

I popped 2 pieces into the toaster and made some coffee.....and it was amazing.  I love any bread, english muffin, any morning thing that has cinnamon and raisins in it.  And now that I feel like I have mastered this I will be making it all the time.  And I really need to get our oven checked out by our landlord.  It doesn't act up all the time, but it's starting to go.  :(

Lemon Squares

I had a request from a good friend, who is totally my partner in crime when it comes to shopping for shoes and clothes, for Lemon Squares.  I said absolutely and that I will bring some to her to our upcoming ladies lunch/shopping date.  Of course I had to do a dry run of these before I brought them to her.  I took out my Martha Stewart's Cookies Cookbook and looked it over - seemed simple enough....and it is. 

I looked at the crust for it and thought I would be inventive and go for a Nilla Wafer crust.  So instead of using flour, I used crushed up Nilla Wafers - I thought it came out pretty good.  You could also use graham crackers if you would like, I think they would work well in these as well.  But other than the switch of Nilla Wafers for flour, I stuck to the recipe as it was. 

I made the crust and stuck it into the freezer to firm up before it went into the oven.  Once ready, I baked it off.  It did come out a dark golden brown - and that's due to the Nilla Wafers, so if you use flour it won't be as dark as this.

golden brown crust

While the crust was in the oven baking, I made the filling - really easy too.  Once the crust was out of the oven, I poured it over the crust and put it back into the oven.  Once the edges are light brown and the center is set, it's time to pull it out.

yum

After a while, pull the corners of the parchment paper and pull it out of the pan to finish cooling completely.  Of course, it was heavier than I thought and it was too much weight for my bad hand and I kinda almost dropped it.  As a result of my boo boo, I ended up having a giant crack in the middle of the cake :(  But it was OK - I knew that I would get to cover it all with confectioner's sugar and it wouldn't be that bad of a mess.

Once they were cooled, I got out my flour sifter (great to use if you don't have a powder shaker) and went to town making it snow all over the top of the lemon squares.  Then I cut them all up and put them in my fancy Tupperware. 

oh yeah

Of course I tried one, so good.  And not overpowering in the lemon department.  My only complaint was that the bottoms were a little too buttery so I think when I make them again I'm going to change the butter amount to less and see what happens. 

Lemon Squares

makes about 2 dozen

Crust:

1 1/2 sticks of butter, frozen, plus more for dish

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

3/4 tsp coarse salt

Filling:

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp coarse salt

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup whole milk

Confectioner's Sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9"x13" glass baking dish and line with parchment paper.
2. Make crust:  Grate butter on a cheese grater with large holes; set aside.  Whisk together flour, confectioner's sugar and salt in a large bowl.  Add butter, stir with a wooden spoon until combined and mixture looks crumbly.
3. Transfer mixture to prepared dish; press evenly onto bottom with your hands.  Freeze crust 15 minutes.  Bake until slightly golden, 16-18 minutes.  Leave oven on.
4. Meanwhile, make filling:  Whisk together eggs, granulated sugar, flour and salt in a bowl until smooth.  Stir in lemon juice and milk.  Pour over hot crust.
5. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees, and bake until filling is set and edges are slightly golden brown, about 18 minutes.  Let cool slightly on wire rack.  Lift out; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into 2" squares.  Dust with confectioner's sugar.  Can be refrigerated in airtight containers up to 2 days.  

Lemon Cake with Lemon Icing

Summer is here!! Yay!! So why not have some posts about summery baked goods?  I love cake or cookies with lemon in them and one of my very good friends said that his mom had an amazing recipe for lemon cake when I was talking about making some Lemon Squares.  I emailed his mom and she gave me the recipe - I'm a huge fan of it.  It's really easy and quick - and extremely delicious. 

I had gotten the recipe the night before, so I read it over and made a mental list of the supplies I would need to get.  The next morning off I went to the grocery store to get what I needed and then came home and got to baking. 

This literally comes together in seconds.  Add it all together and put it in the pan and off it goes into the oven.

mmm...cake

Clearly I'm having issues with my oven working properly.  I ended up turning down the temperature and taking it out early - but I don't think your cake should turn out this dark - maybe just a golden brown and not a dark tan.  Now comes the fun part - poking holes all over that bad boy while it's still warm with a fork.  Away I went stabbing the cake (gently of course) and then made the icing real quick......then I poured it all over the top.

not sure why I had a divot

I stuck the cake in the fridge and an hour later cut into it once it had cooled all the way.  She had told me that it was moist (and honestly who doesn't love a moist cake?) and was it ever!!  I ended up eating 2 pieces of it!  Then I packed some up and off I went to deliver some to my 3 favorite guy taste testers.  When I got there, one of them looked at what I brought and said "I can tell just by looking at these that it's going to be good".  Then he took a bite and said "Soo good".  Look at this.......

moist and delicious

.......doesn't it make you want some?!

Lemon Cake with Lemon Icing

Cake:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 package instant lemon pudding

4 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 13"x9" pan.  Mix everything together in bowl until smooth.  Pour batter into greased pan and bake for 35 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. 

Icing:

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 cups confectioners sugar

2 tbsp melted butter

3 tbsp water

Whisk everything together until smooth.  Poke holes all over cake while still warm.  Pour icing all over cake. 

Keep cake in fridge for best flavor. 







Rolo Cupcakes

It was Rolo week on My Baking Addiction and when I saw this recipe for Rolo Cupcakes I knew I had to print it out and make them.  I had called my Dad earlier in the week and told him about them and he was very excited.  We had some more family coming down for the holiday weekend, so I knew at some point I would make them for everyone.  Friday came and company had arrived, but my mom had made a dessert so I said I would make the cupcakes for Sunday - my Dad was a little sad, said we could have both.  I told him Sunday would be the day for them.  Sunday came and I got to work.  This is similar to the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes where there is something in the middle and on top.  I knew they would be a hit. 

Once everything was ready for the cupcakes, I scoop them out and put a frozen Rolo in the middle of each one. 

chocolate in chocolate :)

Then you cover them up with the remaining batter and bake away.  Once cooled, time for the caramel frosting.  Easy to make and very tasty.  I suggest making the chocolate ganache before you start with the frosting - it needs time to set up and thicken.  So make the ganache first and then make the frosting and ice the cupcakes - perfect timing. 

frosted and ready for ganache

Once frosted, drizzle the ganache over the tops.

looks good

Then you get to put a Rolo on top

oh yeah

I brought some out to my family once they were ready.  Huge hit.  Everyone loved them.  My Mom is a huge fan of the frosting - says that these cupcakes are her favorite.  My cousin's husband said that it was "the best thing to ever go into his mouth".  He had a few more that day before they left (he's a treat lover - more care packages will be sent their way).   

I love Rolo's so I will be making these again.  And my parents said I should make them again when AD and UD come down soon - and I totally will since UD has a love of Rolos like I do.  I mean look at this.......

delicious

........wouldn't you want to have one of these bad boys?! 

Rolo Brownies - new and improved version

I made the Rolo Brownies - in fact I made them the first day and then made them again the next day with some changes.  It still wasn't right.  It was bugging me all weekend.  I talked about changes to make to it with people that had eaten some and knew that I wasn't alone in feeling that these weren't up to par - well certainly not up to my standards.  (I have a perfectionist issue when it comes to my baking - totally comes from my Mom's side of the family).  I went to New Hampshire to spend a couple days with one of my best friends and to be "Auntie CB" with their kids - I love my time up there.  I always have fun and something entertaining always happens.  On my way home yesterday I planned out what I was going to do today - and tackling the brownies was on top of my list.  Too bad that only a couple hours after I got home last night I got into the kitchen and made them - I couldn't wait.  When Heay's got home she said "you've only been home for a couple hours and you've already baked something?"  I think I've got a problem - any one know of a support group for people like me? :) 

I made one slight change to the milk issue in the recipe - I didn't use evaporated milk this time and opted for milk in my fridge.  And I changed the amount of milk - 2/3 cup.  If you want to use evaporated milk its a whole 5 oz can.  The other change I made was after the first bake off I put the Rolo's on it immediately once it came out of the oven.  Then I filled in the holes with mini chocolate chips

chocolate everywhere!

I let that sit for 10 minutes and did all the dishes that had accumulated in my sink and once that was done I put the brownies into the oven for a minute - just until the tops of the Rolo's got smooshy (such a technical term I know, I guess you could say soft or starting to melt too).  Once that happens, take them out and put the top layer of brownie on top and bake off again. 

I had a taste tester happily say he wanted some of the new and improved version (he got some of the first batch) so i packed some up, even though they were still a little warm and falling apart in the plastic bag I had put them in, off I went to meet up with him.  He ate them - all of them - and then said amazing - this one's a winner. And I trust him because he gives me his honest opinion on things I give him - and he went to culinary school so we have technical talks sometimes about food and baking.  I had one this morning (yes - after I ate my breakfast) and I have to say this time they came out perfect!! Winner all around.  I mean look at this.........

delicious

.........who wouldn't want it?  Fudgy and carmel in the middle.  Heaven.