cookies are the key to world peace.

Cookies & Cream PANDA Cupcakes :)

Firstly, I’d like to wish another happy year of existence to one of my best friends from high school: Kim Tran.  So… 

HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY, MA’AM! :)

Kim was actually my inspiration for these cupcakes (which I gave to her as an early birthday gift).  Knowing how much she absolutely loves pandas, and having not baked in what seems like a decade, I knew I had to bake something panda-themed for Kim.  When I started brainstorming what to make, the idea of panda cupcakes instantly popped up in my mind.  I had seen about half a dozen different approaches to making panda cupcakes on various baking blogs and Tumblogs, so my challenge was sticking to something simple, yet cute and personalized. 

Before I chose what type of cupcake to make, I decided I wanted to craft my pandas out of Oreos.  Exactly how I wanted to craft them wasn’t determined until I actually had to start decorating (… silly me).  So, I thought, what more appropriate cupcake body to make than a cookies & cream cupcake?   

I used a cookies & cream cupcake recipe I found on Lovin’ From the Oven, and frosted the cupcakes with cream cheese icing (vanilla frosting may have been a better choice).  I used Mini Oreos halves for the eyes and ears, and frosted on the faces with standard black frosting I found at Safeway.  

The cupcakes themselves were decent.  They didn’t taste as “cookies & creamish” as I had anticipated, but I think that’s mostly due to the fact that I used cream cheese icing instead of vanilla.  The Oreo on the bottom of the cupcake is an awesome idea, and is a sweet little surprise when you bite into the cupcake, but the difference between the textures is a bit odd..  This might just be a personal problem, though. :P 

As for decorating the cupcakes…

My older brother Alan helped me out with coming up with all the different faces (I didn’t want any of them to be the same!).  Decorating them was an absolute BLAST, and I’d recommend this activity to any pair (or group) of bakers and friends looking for a good time. :) 

All in all, a super fun project. 

Now that it’s summer, I’ll be doing a lot more cooking (no dining plan = my friends and I fending for ourselves on a small budget in a small kitchen) and baking.  I’m absolutely stoked! :D

Keep your eyes peeled for more blog posts in the near future.  I’m hoping to keep this blog as lively as possible throughout the whole summer. :)

Speaking of summer, food, and blogs, check out this summer food blog my good friend Kevin started a few summers back.  A group of us, plus Kevin, will be revamping the blog with tons of kitchen experiments this summer.  It should be all sorts of awesome. :)

Day 4 of 12: Homemade Oreos … with red cream filling! :)

So, I have a confession to make.  I’m not sure why, but it’s a little embarrassing.  Are you ready?

I can’t stop listening to Taylor Swift.  ”Love Story” in particular.  I’m not sure why I’m so addicted!  It’s really catchy, and it’s a pretty cute song, right?  And she has a pretty voice.  Right?  According to iTunes, I’ve played that song 27 times in the past week or two.  And I’m listening to it now.. So make that 28.

I also can’t help but listen to Day ‘N’ Nite (Crookers remix version) by Kid Cudi while I bake.  Over and over.

Well, now that I have that off my chest.. On to business. :)

I can’t say I’ve ever been a huge fan of Oreos.  They were always good, once in a while, with a nice cold glass of milk, but I’d never go crazy for them.  There is, however, one time of year when I feel like I could just live on “Oreos” — and this is that time.  Every winter, Trader Joe’s (one of my favorite stores in the whole wide world) sells peppermint sandwich cookies (their version of Oreos with a peppermint cream).  My favorite part about these seasonal Trader Joe’s sandwich cookies?  The peppermint cream.  Their cream is so light, fluffy, pepperminty, and delicious.  Even better, the cream has chunks of peppermint candy in it.  Genius, right?  Way better than Oreos winter cookies: plain cream, just colored red.

I’ve run into two different recipes for homemade Oreos online.  They both looked so delicious.  I ended up using Joy The Baker’s recipe for the chocolate cookies, and Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for the cream filling.  I actually attempted to use Joy The Baker’s recipe for a peppermint cream filling, but I failed epically.  My original intention was to make the white chocolate peppermint cream filling, and putting crushed peppermint candy cane bits into it.  Well, the peppermint cream filling kind of went downhill, so I was going to settle for making regular cream filling and mixing candy cane bits into that.  Why did I end up with just plain cream, colored red?  Well, long story short, I accidentally bought fruity candy canes instead of peppermint candy canes.  I really need to start reading the labels on things..  Or people need to stick to coloring the non-peppermint candy canes with a different color scheme (to me, red + white stripes on a candy cane = peppermint).

The cookies turned out lovely.  I may have over-stuffed them, but that’s okay.  The chocolate cookies turned out perfectly crisp, and went so well with the cream filling (man I really wish I could’ve made that peppermint cream!).  Next time I make homemade Oreos, though, I think I’ll try Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for the chocolate cookies, because I ended up having to modify the recipe I used a little bit.  It’s interesting that these even turned out edible (let alone pretty tasty), given that this was my first time ever making a crispy cookie, and my first time ever using a cookie cutter.  I guess there’s always a first time for everything, and the first time doesn’t necessarily have to be an epic failure in any respect. :)

There’s nothing wrong with store-bought Oreos (especially if you get them from Trader Joe’s), but I definitely recommend making homemade Oreos whenever you get the chance.  Making homemade Oreos calls for nothing short of a good time, and a great lesson in cookie AND frosting making!

Mint Oreo Cookies.

I got this idea while browsing some other food blogs.  This recipe was originally made with just plain Oreos, but I decided to use mint Oreos instead (well, mint “Tuxedos,” because they were cheaper than Oreos and taste the same to me).

The result?

My test-tasters seemed to think they were yummy!  I like them, too. :)

These are definitely cookies that taste better when they’re cooled down, rather than warm and right out of the oven (the texture of the warm, just-cooked Oreos just isn’t ideal).   They’re kind of crunchy on the outside, and chewy on the inside, while still preserving the crunchy texture of the Oreo cookie and the soft texture of the mint cream.

They aren’t really the most aesthetically pleasing cookies, but they have a pretty interesting look to them.  I kind of like the crazy, messy, mixed-up look to them.  As long as you don’t think of mold when you look at them, they look delicious (haha).

I love this concept of crushing up store-bought cookies and mixing them into cookie dough to make an even better cookie.  My next idea?  Mixing Nutter Butters into a peanut butter cookie.  We’ll see how that turns out, though.. I’m still on a quest to find the perfect peanut butter cookie recipe.

thisiswhyyourefat:

Oreo Cupcake With Built In Milk Cup

(Submitted by J. Pollack via cupcakeproject)

On a mission to make this!