Photo
January 16, 2011
6 notes
Double Chocolate Cookies :)  (AND some mushy, gushy stuff about home. If you’re just here for the cookies, you might want to skip the first four paragraphs. :) Winter Quarter has commenced for only two weeks now, and already I long for break. I miss the relaxing days of being able to wake up whenever my body wants to, when the only things I occupied myself with were running, reading, baking, and laughing with my brother, Alan, until I fell on the floor. As much as I love school, research, work, and simply just being on campus, living such an unstructured life is incredibly refreshing every once in a while.  Before Winter Break, I hadn’t visited Portland for over six months—the longest duration I’ve spent away from “home”. I was on campus doing research over the summer, visited my sister in Salt Lake City for the last three weeks of summer, and spent Thanksgiving Break in Ohio. It had hardly crossed my mind how much I might’ve miss Portland; As the loads of work get more and more massive, and the amount of sleep I get becomes infinitesimal, I feel like I get too busy to remember to miss home. When I landed in Portland in mid-December, everything felt remarkably foreign. But the moment Alan greeted me at the MAX stop downtown, it all felt like home again (oh, the hallucinating homeless man who started yelling nonsense at us two blocks down the street, and the pack of over 50 Santas marching around town chanting “HO! HO! HO! HO!” certainly helped, too ;). The reason why I put “home” in quotations the first time around was because, just last year, I was torn over where I considered “home” to be. I felt like this was an essential thing to know, and it was a pertinent piece of information I couldn’t provide for myself. I felt like I was being torn in a million directions: Is my home in Portland, where most of my family is? Or is it in Salt Lake City, where my sister hosts me for an extended period of time every year? Or is it on campus, where I spend 3/4 of time? Last year, I finally grew comfortable with calling Stanford my home—just like any other Stanford student would. But even then, I was still torn, because flying from one place to another and living out of a suit case really gets you thinking about this kind of thing. And not too long ago, I finally found an answer: I have multiple homes. I have multiple places I can travel to, unravel, feel comfortable, and be surrounded by familiar things and familiar people. I used to think I was underprivileged, because I felt like a nomad who didn’t have a single place where I owned a bed and a closet (that I didn’t have to evacuate every year). But that’s not what makes a home. And I’m far from underprivileged—I feel like the luckiest person in the world! Having so many places I can go to and feel “at home” is easily one of the best feelings in the world. :) Winter Break was made wonderful by my big brother and best friend (let’s just say we’re BROS, yo), Alan, who devoured all the cookies and pancakes I made with a smile on his face, while tolerating my borderline terrifying obsession with Entourage; my oldest brother, Adam, who I got to celebrate and greet the new year with (by far, the most AWESOME new years celebration I’ve ever had); my older sister, Linh, who joined us in Portland/Seattle for a few days before Christmas; and my mom and grandma, who I swear never change (yes, they’re consistently crazy), and never fail to feed me the best food and funniest stories. I love my family, and wherever they are are places I’ll always consider home. :) Okay, enough cheese. On to the suga’! I made these cookies for Alan as a parting gift, and a big huge thanks for his hospitality over Winter Break. :) I used my go-to recipe for chocolate cookie dough, and used chunks of semi-sweet chocolate I got from Trader Joe’s. The chocolate chunks were a lot more bitter than I had anticipated, so the next time I make these cookies, I think I’ll opt for some Ghirardelli 60% Cacao chunks. The texture of the dough is my favorite: crispy on the outside, slightly fluffy, but still chewy.  My sister made and gifted chocolate truffles that were “sweet & spicy”—they were dark chocolate truffles, spiced with cayenne pepper, with dried cherries hiding in the center. Amazed and inspired by this flavor combination, I decided to experiment with half the dough, and turn my sister’s truffles into cookies. I just mixed in a few teaspoons of cayenne pepper and dried cherries, and presented these cookies at a cookie exchange with a few friends on campus. These cookies could definitely use some work. The spice didn’t quite come on as strong as I had hoped, and I think they ended up being a bit dry by the time they reached California. I’ll have to try at this another time, with more cayenne, different chocolate chunks, and maybe making bigger cookies to retain more moisture over time (mine were about 1.5 inches in diameter).  And with that, I conclude my longest blog post ever. :) Happy mid-January!

Double Chocolate Cookies :) 

(AND some mushy, gushy stuff about home. If you’re just here for the cookies, you might want to skip the first four paragraphs. :)

Winter Quarter has commenced for only two weeks now, and already I long for break. I miss the relaxing days of being able to wake up whenever my body wants to, when the only things I occupied myself with were running, reading, baking, and laughing with my brother, Alan, until I fell on the floor. As much as I love school, research, work, and simply just being on campus, living such an unstructured life is incredibly refreshing every once in a while. 

Before Winter Break, I hadn’t visited Portland for over six months—the longest duration I’ve spent away from “home”. I was on campus doing research over the summer, visited my sister in Salt Lake City for the last three weeks of summer, and spent Thanksgiving Break in Ohio. It had hardly crossed my mind how much I might’ve miss Portland; As the loads of work get more and more massive, and the amount of sleep I get becomes infinitesimal, I feel like I get too busy to remember to miss home. When I landed in Portland in mid-December, everything felt remarkably foreign. But the moment Alan greeted me at the MAX stop downtown, it all felt like home again (oh, the hallucinating homeless man who started yelling nonsense at us two blocks down the street, and the pack of over 50 Santas marching around town chanting “HO! HO! HO! HO!” certainly helped, too ;).

The reason why I put “home” in quotations the first time around was because, just last year, I was torn over where I considered “home” to be. I felt like this was an essential thing to know, and it was a pertinent piece of information I couldn’t provide for myself. I felt like I was being torn in a million directions: Is my home in Portland, where most of my family is? Or is it in Salt Lake City, where my sister hosts me for an extended period of time every year? Or is it on campus, where I spend 3/4 of time? Last year, I finally grew comfortable with calling Stanford my home—just like any other Stanford student would. But even then, I was still torn, because flying from one place to another and living out of a suit case really gets you thinking about this kind of thing. And not too long ago, I finally found an answer: I have multiple homes. I have multiple places I can travel to, unravel, feel comfortable, and be surrounded by familiar things and familiar people. I used to think I was underprivileged, because I felt like a nomad who didn’t have a single place where I owned a bed and a closet (that I didn’t have to evacuate every year). But that’s not what makes a home. And I’m far from underprivileged—I feel like the luckiest person in the world! Having so many places I can go to and feel “at home” is easily one of the best feelings in the world. :)

Winter Break was made wonderful by my big brother and best friend (let’s just say we’re BROS, yo), Alan, who devoured all the cookies and pancakes I made with a smile on his face, while tolerating my borderline terrifying obsession with Entourage; my oldest brother, Adam, who I got to celebrate and greet the new year with (by far, the most AWESOME new years celebration I’ve ever had); my older sister, Linh, who joined us in Portland/Seattle for a few days before Christmas; and my mom and grandma, who I swear never change (yes, they’re consistently crazy), and never fail to feed me the best food and funniest stories. I love my family, and wherever they are are places I’ll always consider home. :)

Okay, enough cheese. On to the suga’!

I made these cookies for Alan as a parting gift, and a big huge thanks for his hospitality over Winter Break. :)

I used my go-to recipe for chocolate cookie dough, and used chunks of semi-sweet chocolate I got from Trader Joe’s. The chocolate chunks were a lot more bitter than I had anticipated, so the next time I make these cookies, I think I’ll opt for some Ghirardelli 60% Cacao chunks. The texture of the dough is my favorite: crispy on the outside, slightly fluffy, but still chewy. 

My sister made and gifted chocolate truffles that were “sweet & spicy”—they were dark chocolate truffles, spiced with cayenne pepper, with dried cherries hiding in the center. Amazed and inspired by this flavor combination, I decided to experiment with half the dough, and turn my sister’s truffles into cookies. I just mixed in a few teaspoons of cayenne pepper and dried cherries, and presented these cookies at a cookie exchange with a few friends on campus. These cookies could definitely use some work. The spice didn’t quite come on as strong as I had hoped, and I think they ended up being a bit dry by the time they reached California. I’ll have to try at this another time, with more cayenne, different chocolate chunks, and maybe making bigger cookies to retain more moisture over time (mine were about 1.5 inches in diameter). 

And with that, I conclude my longest blog post ever. :)

Happy mid-January!

Tags: chocolate cookies Stanford

Photoset
June 24, 2010
1 note

S’mores-Stuffed Brownies :)

My friend’s automatic reaction when he heard this name: “Wait… How do you get s’mores inside the brownies??” 

Hahah.  Well, I found this mouth-watering concoction on Picky Palate (a food blog I recently discovered — and have recently fallen in love with).  This recipe is absolutely genius!  

The brownie has 5 layers (from bottom up):
(1) brownie
(2) graham cracker
(3) Hershey’s milk chocolate
(4) marshmallows
(5) brownie.  

Yep, s’mores are literally sandwiched between two brownie layers!  

Result?  Utter deliciousness. :)

This recipe resulted in a really moist, dense, super-sweet brownie.  The only problem I had was the top brownie layer not cooking all the way through in the center of the pan.  I discovered this when I started slicing the center brownies, and batter started flooding toward everywhere.  If I had baked it any longer to accommodate the top brownie layer, the bottom brownie layer would’ve been over-baked and dry.  So, next time, instead of dividing the batter evenly between the top and bottom brownie layers, I’d definitely go for about 3/4 of the batter on the bottom and 1/4 on top. 

These brownies are really fun and easy to make — and did I mention how absolutely delicious they are??  You can either make the brownie layers from scratch, or you can use brownie mix (no shame; brownie mix is awesome). 

So, if you have the ingredients to make these (s’mores stuff + brownie mix), I recommend you make them immediately.  If you don’t have the ingredients, well, you might want to rush to the nearest grocery store and get them. :)

Tags: s'mores brownies chocolate

Photo
June 22, 2010
1 note
Chocolate Chocolate Chip “Muffins” :) Why, these look a bit familiar… They look strikingly similar to the chocolate cupcakes I filled with dulce de leche a while back.  Hmm.. How could that be? Oh.  Because “chocolate muffins” don’t exist.  They’re just cupcakes that we eat for breakfast!  Oh, we’re so silly.  Oh well.  Whatever lets us get away with eating chocolate for breakfast, right?  :) I got this recipe from The Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook that a lovely friend got for me a while back.  Warning: This book will make you salivate.  For some reason, every one of the recipes I’ve tried from this book have ended in at least partial disaster… I must be doing something wrong.  Maybe I should stop being so frugal and start using Ghirardelli chocolate?   Hm.  Well, whatever it is, I hope I figure it out soon.  I love this book, and all of the recipes sound like they’d be amazing.  Then I mess up.  Darn. Anyway.  Back to the cupca— I mean, “muffins.”  My soul reason for making these muffins was to emulate the muffins that my former house-mates and I miss so much.  Our dining hall made some pretty decent food, but their chocolate chocolate chunk muffins were beyond delicious.  They were perfectly chocolatey, perfectly dark, perfectly moist, with perfectly crisp tops… I’m drooling just thinking about them.  The moment I get my fingers on that recipe, oh, there will be nonstop muffin-making and nonstop muffin-consumption in this apartment!  (Just kidding… maybe.) These muffins were decent.  Honestly, they were just too dry and not quite chocolatey enough.  To be honest, I think I may have baked them a few minutes too long (instructions called for 20, I should’ve gone 17 for a more moist muffin).  I also must admit that I kind of strayed away from the recipe a bit … (don’t ask).  I should actually try the recipe some day just as is, too… Don’t know what came over me!  I won’t give up on this muffin experiment until I succeed — even if it takes all summer! P.S. If you missed the note in my last post, be sure to check out this summer food blog my friends and I are all contributing to this summer.  We’re all living on campus without meal plans, and, oh boy, we’re all stoked for the awesome food adventures to come!  We just had our first potluck on Sunday, so be sure to check out the blog! :)

Chocolate Chocolate Chip “Muffins” :)

Why, these look a bit familiar… They look strikingly similar to the chocolate cupcakes I filled with dulce de leche a while back.  Hmm.. How could that be?

Oh.  Because “chocolate muffins” don’t exist.  They’re just cupcakes that we eat for breakfast!  Oh, we’re so silly.  Oh well.  Whatever lets us get away with eating chocolate for breakfast, right?  :)

I got this recipe from The Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook that a lovely friend got for me a while back.  Warning: This book will make you salivate. 

For some reason, every one of the recipes I’ve tried from this book have ended in at least partial disaster… I must be doing something wrong.  Maybe I should stop being so frugal and start using Ghirardelli chocolate?   Hm.  Well, whatever it is, I hope I figure it out soon.  I love this book, and all of the recipes sound like they’d be amazing.  Then I mess up.  Darn.

Anyway.  Back to the cupca— I mean, “muffins.” 

My soul reason for making these muffins was to emulate the muffins that my former house-mates and I miss so much.  Our dining hall made some pretty decent food, but their chocolate chocolate chunk muffins were beyond delicious.  They were perfectly chocolatey, perfectly dark, perfectly moist, with perfectly crisp tops… I’m drooling just thinking about them.  The moment I get my fingers on that recipe, oh, there will be nonstop muffin-making and nonstop muffin-consumption in this apartment!  (Just kidding… maybe.)

These muffins were decent.  Honestly, they were just too dry and not quite chocolatey enough.  To be honest, I think I may have baked them a few minutes too long (instructions called for 20, I should’ve gone 17 for a more moist muffin).  I also must admit that I kind of strayed away from the recipe a bit … (don’t ask).  I should actually try the recipe some day just as is, too… Don’t know what came over me! 

I won’t give up on this muffin experiment until I succeed — even if it takes all summer!

P.S. If you missed the note in my last post, be sure to check out this summer food blog my friends and I are all contributing to this summer.  We’re all living on campus without meal plans, and, oh boy, we’re all stoked for the awesome food adventures to come!  We just had our first potluck on Sunday, so be sure to check out the blog! :)

Tags: chocolate muffins cupcakes

Photoset
April 04, 2010

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes 
filled with Dulce de Leche 
frosted with Chocolate Frosting :)

Before last quarter I had only read about dulce de leche in various food blog posts.  These posts ranged from critiques on dulce de leche ice cream to sharing recipes for dulce de leche cheesecake squares.  I could only guess what dulce de leche was — some type of thick, milky caramel?  Either way, I didn’t think I was missing out on too much.

One lovely evening, a friend and I were having dinner at the CoHo when a menu item caught our eye: 

“Churros with dulce de leche”

When I mentioned that I had never had dulce de leche before, my friend automatically decided that this treat was a must.  The churros were center-filled with dulce de leche and were absolutely delicious.  What attracted me most to dulce de leche was the smooth, creamy texture paired with the milky caramel taste.  I’ve always adored the taste of caramel, but never enjoyed the ooey-gooey stickiness of it.  Great texture plus the caramel taste?  Dulce de leche was basically a dream come true for me! 

I’d been hankering to make some cupcakes all quarter last quarter.  I finally came up with an idea that I thought was worthwhile, which is what I present to you today: 

Dark chocolate cupcakes filled with dulce de leche — frosted with chocolate frosting

YUM. :)
I used Beantown Baker’s Dark Chocolate Cupcake recipe and a random chocolate frosting recipe I came up with on the spot.  I bought the dulce de leche at Whole Foods.  

After baking the cupcakes and letting them cool for a bit, I cut a cone-shaped chunk out of each cupcake, filled the hollowed centers of the cupcakes with dulce de leche, replaced the top of the cupcake, and lightly frosted the top of each cupcake.

My cupcakes turned out a little more dry than I had anticipated (I actually made a huge mistake while mixing the batter, realized it half way through, and did my best to make up for it.. But the dryness was definitely a result of my mistake).  Otherwise, I would consider my cupcake baking spree for the quarter as a success. :) 

Well, it’s a new quarter now, and I’m hoping for lots of sunshine and looking forward to all of the activities that get to take place in ideal weather: running, climbing, tennis, and sand volleyball.  I’m really excited for all of my classes, and even more excited for whatever baking adventures I might embark on. 

Oh man.  I can’t wait. :)

Lessons to take away from this blog post:

1) If you haven’t tasted it before, go get some dulce de leche this instant.  If you have tasted it before, still go get some. Now. 

2) Pay attention when you’re mixing cake batter. 

3) Always take advantage of lovely weather.

Thanks for reading!  Stay happy. :)

Tags: chocolate caramel cupcakes

Photo
December 25, 2009
1 note
Day 10 of 12: Chocolate Peanut Butter Munchies :) A.K.A. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in cookie form! I love peanut butter.  Yes, I LOVE it with all my heart.  And I equally love chocolate.  Mix the two flavors and, well, I’m surprised I can even handle something so AMAZING.  Chocolate and peanut butter might be two of my favorite sweet flavors.  Toss in some Grape Nuts and this cookie might be the all-in-one food for me (kidding, of course..). I got this recipe from Bake or Break.  For my 12 Days of Baking, I knew I had to squeeze in another peanut butter recipe.  I honestly wasn’t expecting anything too special from this recipe, so I was totally caught off guard by how absolutely perfect it was.  The texture of the cookie is almost brownie-like, and the peanut butter center has the taste and texture of the center of a Peanut Butter Cup.  I had always wondered what those centers were made of (they obviously weren’t just pure peanut butter).  Now I know. :)  My favorite thing about this recipe?  I thought it incredible that the recipe incorporates peanut butter into the chocolate dough.  This inclusion of peanut butter in the chocolate cookie base gave the cookie another peanut butter kick (you can never have too much peanut butter kick in a cookie), which made it that much better.  The peanut butter in the cookie base definitely helped with the brownie-like texture, too. I seriously can’t stop drooling over this recipe.  I might be overreacting… But seriously, if you have a jar of peanut butter just sitting in your pantry, go make these NOW.  I might very well have discovered my new favorite cookie! :) P.S. I may have exaggerated a bit about how much I enjoy peanut butter at the beginning of this post… Maybe.

Day 10 of 12: Chocolate Peanut Butter Munchies :)

A.K.A. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in cookie form!

I love peanut butter.  Yes, I LOVE it with all my heart.  And I equally love chocolate.  Mix the two flavors and, well, I’m surprised I can even handle something so AMAZING.  Chocolate and peanut butter might be two of my favorite sweet flavors.  Toss in some Grape Nuts and this cookie might be the all-in-one food for me (kidding, of course..).

I got this recipe from Bake or Break.  For my 12 Days of Baking, I knew I had to squeeze in another peanut butter recipe.  I honestly wasn’t expecting anything too special from this recipe, so I was totally caught off guard by how absolutely perfect it was.  The texture of the cookie is almost brownie-like, and the peanut butter center has the taste and texture of the center of a Peanut Butter Cup.  I had always wondered what those centers were made of (they obviously weren’t just pure peanut butter).  Now I know. :)  My favorite thing about this recipe?  I thought it incredible that the recipe incorporates peanut butter into the chocolate dough.  This inclusion of peanut butter in the chocolate cookie base gave the cookie another peanut butter kick (you can never have too much peanut butter kick in a cookie), which made it that much better.  The peanut butter in the cookie base definitely helped with the brownie-like texture, too.

I seriously can’t stop drooling over this recipe.  I might be overreacting… But seriously, if you have a jar of peanut butter just sitting in your pantry, go make these NOW.  I might very well have discovered my new favorite cookie! :)

P.S. I may have exaggerated a bit about how much I enjoy peanut butter at the beginning of this post… Maybe.

Tags: chocolate peanut butter cookies

Photo
December 20, 2009
Day 6 of 12: S’Mores Cookies :) So, I have another confession to make. I like to think of myself as a person who generally likes to eat healthy (just ignore all of the sugar and butter I’ve been flooding this blog with).  I try to avoid anything deep-fried, greesey, or fatty, and I love my fruits and vegetables.  But, there’s one thing that I just can’t help but enjoy eating: SPAM. I love SPAM.  Pan-fried SPAM.  With a slice of toasted french bread.  Sometimes with some thick slices of sharp cheddar cheese.  I’ve kind of grown up eating SPAM.  Every Sunday morning in high school, my mom would get me to drive to Safeway to buy a freshly baked loaf of french bread.  Meanwhile, she would be at home cooking up some SPAM.  Once I got home, we would devour the bread and SPAM together over good conversation. :)  I’ll always love my SPAM and french bread, no matter how unhealthy (and mysterious) it is.  At least I don’t eat it everyday, right? Anyway.. On to the cookies. :) I’ve tried making s’mores cookies before, and they were pretty tasty.  I totally forgot about the whole concept until I stumbled over Lovin’ From The Oven’s recent post about s’mores cookies.  I used the recipe she posted for the cookie dough, but I tweaked the incorporation of marshmallows and Hershey’s chocolate a little bit.  Instead of adding chocolate chips into the cookie dough, I mixed in the chunks of Hershey’s milk chocolate into it.  For my first batch, I mixed the mini marshmallows directly into the dough as well.  That was a bad idea.  The marshmallows ended up just caramelizing into the dough (I really should’ve seen this coming).  So, for my last few batches, I baked the cookies for about 8 minutes, pulled them out and smooshed the marshmallows into each cookie, then baked the cookies for about 2 more minutes until the cookies were fully cooked. Result?  These things are delicious!  The cookies turned out to be really thin, but they’re perfectly soft and chewy.  AND, they taste exactly like s’mores. :)  I have to admit, these aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing cookies ever.  Honestly, I think they look absolutely insane.  But hey, they taste good!  My brother and grandmother both really enjoyed these cookies.  I’m excited for my other taste-testers to taste them! Speaking of.. Guess who just got home a few hours ago? My best friend, MY BROTHER.  I’m so excited!  We haven’t seen each other since August, but I swear nothing’s changed.  I love being at home with him.  Only more great times in store for the rest of winter break… :)

Day 6 of 12: S’Mores Cookies :)

So, I have another confession to make.

I like to think of myself as a person who generally likes to eat healthy (just ignore all of the sugar and butter I’ve been flooding this blog with).  I try to avoid anything deep-fried, greesey, or fatty, and I love my fruits and vegetables.  But, there’s one thing that I just can’t help but enjoy eating:

SPAM.

I love SPAM.  Pan-fried SPAM.  With a slice of toasted french bread.  Sometimes with some thick slices of sharp cheddar cheese.  I’ve kind of grown up eating SPAM.  Every Sunday morning in high school, my mom would get me to drive to Safeway to buy a freshly baked loaf of french bread.  Meanwhile, she would be at home cooking up some SPAM.  Once I got home, we would devour the bread and SPAM together over good conversation. :)  I’ll always love my SPAM and french bread, no matter how unhealthy (and mysterious) it is.  At least I don’t eat it everyday, right?

Anyway.. On to the cookies. :)

I’ve tried making s’mores cookies before, and they were pretty tasty.  I totally forgot about the whole concept until I stumbled over Lovin’ From The Oven’s recent post about s’mores cookies.  I used the recipe she posted for the cookie dough, but I tweaked the incorporation of marshmallows and Hershey’s chocolate a little bit.  Instead of adding chocolate chips into the cookie dough, I mixed in the chunks of Hershey’s milk chocolate into it.  For my first batch, I mixed the mini marshmallows directly into the dough as well.  That was a bad idea.  The marshmallows ended up just caramelizing into the dough (I really should’ve seen this coming).  So, for my last few batches, I baked the cookies for about 8 minutes, pulled them out and smooshed the marshmallows into each cookie, then baked the cookies for about 2 more minutes until the cookies were fully cooked.

Result?  These things are delicious!  The cookies turned out to be really thin, but they’re perfectly soft and chewy.  AND, they taste exactly like s’mores. :)  I have to admit, these aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing cookies ever.  Honestly, I think they look absolutely insane.  But hey, they taste good!  My brother and grandmother both really enjoyed these cookies.  I’m excited for my other taste-testers to taste them!

Speaking of.. Guess who just got home a few hours ago?

My best friend, MY BROTHER.  I’m so excited!  We haven’t seen each other since August, but I swear nothing’s changed.  I love being at home with him.  Only more great times in store for the rest of winter break… :)

Tags: s'mores cookies chocolate

Photo
December 19, 2009
1 note
Day 5 of 12: Mint Chocolate M&M Cookies :) It’s ridiculous how far and wide I searched for these mint chocolate M&Ms.  I first tasted them last winter, and fell in love with them.  When I started thinking about going on this 12-day baking spree, I thought about these lovely little gems and how delicious they would be in a cookie.  I basically went to every grocery store in downtown Portland searching for them— and they were nowhere to be found.  When I asked store clerks if they carried mint chocolate M&Ms, the most common reaction I got was, “Are you sure those even exist?” :(  I almost gave up, but really?  Give up?  That’s not something I do.. I ended up finding them at a Fred Meyer in Hillsboro (about 20 miles out from where I live).  When I saw these, I seriously almost bought the entire box!  I was sooo excited!  I refrained, and only bought 2 bags.  M&Ms have never tasted so rewarding. :) Cookie dough + mint chocolate M&Ms = delicious winter cookie :) I just used a normal cookie base, and threw in a bag of mint M&Ms.  These cookies actually turned out a little fluffier than I was hoping, but they’re still chewy and soft, so I can’t really complain.  I have to admit, though, that these cookies definitely aren’t the “prettiest” I’ve ever made.  I should’ve taken a picture of how absolutely ridiculous the bottoms of these cookies look.  The M&Ms themselves were pretty thick, and they kind of sank to the bottom of the cookie while baking.  Let’s just say these cookies are well equipped with Christmas colored M&M craters on the bottom. Hmmmm. What’s in store for tonight?  We’ll see.  Soon. :)

Day 5 of 12: Mint Chocolate M&M Cookies :)

It’s ridiculous how far and wide I searched for these mint chocolate M&Ms.  I first tasted them last winter, and fell in love with them.  When I started thinking about going on this 12-day baking spree, I thought about these lovely little gems and how delicious they would be in a cookie.  I basically went to every grocery store in downtown Portland searching for them— and they were nowhere to be found.  When I asked store clerks if they carried mint chocolate M&Ms, the most common reaction I got was, “Are you sure those even exist?” :(  I almost gave up, but really?  Give up?  That’s not something I do.. I ended up finding them at a Fred Meyer in Hillsboro (about 20 miles out from where I live).  When I saw these, I seriously almost bought the entire box!  I was sooo excited!  I refrained, and only bought 2 bags.  M&Ms have never tasted so rewarding. :)

Cookie dough + mint chocolate M&Ms = delicious winter cookie :)

I just used a normal cookie base, and threw in a bag of mint M&Ms.  These cookies actually turned out a little fluffier than I was hoping, but they’re still chewy and soft, so I can’t really complain.  I have to admit, though, that these cookies definitely aren’t the “prettiest” I’ve ever made.  I should’ve taken a picture of how absolutely ridiculous the bottoms of these cookies look.  The M&Ms themselves were pretty thick, and they kind of sank to the bottom of the cookie while baking.  Let’s just say these cookies are well equipped with Christmas colored M&M craters on the bottom.

Hmmmm. What’s in store for tonight?  We’ll see.  Soon. :)

Tags: cookies chocolate mint

Photo
December 17, 2009
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!

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!

Tags: chocolate cookies Oreos cookie cutters

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December 16, 2009
Soooo many cookies!  Poohahaha. :)

Soooo many cookies!  Poohahaha. :)

Tags: mint chocolate cookies

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December 16, 2009
Day 3 of 12: Mint Chocolate Cookies :) So, I went on a huuuuge baking spree last night.  Just because I’m crazy?  Mm. Maybe.  But no.  Today was “Academic Homecoming” at the high school I attended.  Before today, I hadn’t visited the high school ever since I graduated.  I actually hadn’t even kept in touch with very many teachers there.. So, I thought I’d visit them with some treats!  I made some mascarpone brownies for the sweet ladies who work in the front office, baked some cookies (these cookies) for a few of the counselors, and got a few of my favorite teachers other reunion gifts.  I was afraid being back would be suuuper awkward, but it was actually nothing short of awesome.  It felt amazing being able to reunite and catch up with all of the teachers around the school; I miss them so much, and they’ve made the greatest impact on my life.  As cheesy at it sounds, I definitely wouldn’t be who I am and where I am today without them.  They’re all so incredible, and sweet. :) I ended up spending about 8 hours in the kitchen last night.  I stumbled over a lovely recipe for black & white red velvet cookies while browsing some blogs, and I just couldn’t pull my attention away from it.  I had never tasted red velvet or black & white cookies, so I thought I’d expose myself to two new tastes in one swing.  Unfortunately, I ended up hating (that might be a stronger word than necessary..) these cookies, and didn’t find them fit to package as gifts, so I decided to go back to a trusty recipe and make these cookies. So, after Day 2, I still had a sufficient amount of Guittard’s mint morsels left.  I usually make these mint chocolate cookies with Andes mints melted on top, but I didn’t have any Andes on hand, so I decided to use the rest of the mint morsels.  These cookies turned out exactly like I wanted them to (love it when that happens!).  They were very brownie-like: soft, fluffy, chewy, and chocolatey.  I love the combination of mint & chocolate; the two tastes are such a dynamic duo, and you can hardly ever go wrong with them together.  My friends seemed to enjoy the cookies, but I did get some feedback about an odd texture in the mint morsels.  After being baked, a few of the morsels did get a bit on the chalky/crumbly side.  I definitely prefer these cookies with Andes, but I loved these the way they are, too. :) I got this recipe from Lovin’ In The Oven, who is also doing 12 Days of Cookies.  If you haven’t already, you should definitely check out her blog.  Her blog is one of the first baking blogs I’ve ever encountered, and she definitely inspired me to start this.  Her photos are AMAZING, and all of her baked goods always look sooo delectable.  Kudos to her for everything she’s done. :) So, it’s only Day 4, and I’m already starting to get nauseous at the sight (and mere thought) of butter and sugar.. But I really need to suck it up and keep going.  I’ve got cookies to make!  I’m really excited, though.  So many recipes bookmarked, and only a few days until my brother comes home!  I might have to withdraw myself from having ANY sugar after these 12 days, though.. Can’t wait to see what Day 4 has in store for me. :)

Day 3 of 12: Mint Chocolate Cookies :)

So, I went on a huuuuge baking spree last night.  Just because I’m crazy?  Mm. Maybe.  But no.  Today was “Academic Homecoming” at the high school I attended.  Before today, I hadn’t visited the high school ever since I graduated.  I actually hadn’t even kept in touch with very many teachers there.. So, I thought I’d visit them with some treats!  I made some mascarpone brownies for the sweet ladies who work in the front office, baked some cookies (these cookies) for a few of the counselors, and got a few of my favorite teachers other reunion gifts.  I was afraid being back would be suuuper awkward, but it was actually nothing short of awesome.  It felt amazing being able to reunite and catch up with all of the teachers around the school; I miss them so much, and they’ve made the greatest impact on my life.  As cheesy at it sounds, I definitely wouldn’t be who I am and where I am today without them.  They’re all so incredible, and sweet. :)

I ended up spending about 8 hours in the kitchen last night.  I stumbled over a lovely recipe for black & white red velvet cookies while browsing some blogs, and I just couldn’t pull my attention away from it.  I had never tasted red velvet or black & white cookies, so I thought I’d expose myself to two new tastes in one swing.  Unfortunately, I ended up hating (that might be a stronger word than necessary..) these cookies, and didn’t find them fit to package as gifts, so I decided to go back to a trusty recipe and make these cookies.

So, after Day 2, I still had a sufficient amount of Guittard’s mint morsels left.  I usually make these mint chocolate cookies with Andes mints melted on top, but I didn’t have any Andes on hand, so I decided to use the rest of the mint morsels.  These cookies turned out exactly like I wanted them to (love it when that happens!).  They were very brownie-like: soft, fluffy, chewy, and chocolatey.  I love the combination of mint & chocolate; the two tastes are such a dynamic duo, and you can hardly ever go wrong with them together.  My friends seemed to enjoy the cookies, but I did get some feedback about an odd texture in the mint morsels.  After being baked, a few of the morsels did get a bit on the chalky/crumbly side.  I definitely prefer these cookies with Andes, but I loved these the way they are, too. :)

I got this recipe from Lovin’ In The Oven, who is also doing 12 Days of Cookies.  If you haven’t already, you should definitely check out her blog.  Her blog is one of the first baking blogs I’ve ever encountered, and she definitely inspired me to start this.  Her photos are AMAZING, and all of her baked goods always look sooo delectable.  Kudos to her for everything she’s done. :)

So, it’s only Day 4, and I’m already starting to get nauseous at the sight (and mere thought) of butter and sugar.. But I really need to suck it up and keep going.  I’ve got cookies to make!  I’m really excited, though.  So many recipes bookmarked, and only a few days until my brother comes home!  I might have to withdraw myself from having ANY sugar after these 12 days, though..

Can’t wait to see what Day 4 has in store for me. :)

Tags: chocolate cookies mint