cookies are the key to world peace.

Day 8 of 12: Buttermilk Pancakes :)

Breakfast is, by far, my favorite meal of the day.  Sometimes, I might go out of my way just to get some breakfast, because I don’t feel like I could function properly without it.  I’m usually pretty simple with my breakfasts: just some toast covered in peanut butter and honey or a bowl full of Grape Nuts (YUUMMMMM) will do.  Along with a glass of orange juice, tea, or soy milk, of course.  I’m actually drooling just thinking about breakfast right now… :)

My brother’s 22nd birthday was just this last Tuesday (the 22nd of December).  I knew he wouldn’t want me to buy him a gift (we already had this discussion prior); the only thing he wanted me to do was make him a cake.  I’m always up for a challenge, and given that I’ve only baked 2 cakes from scratch in my entire life (one of which was a pretty big disaster), this cake-baking thing was definitely going to be a challenge.  It took him a while to decide what kind of cake he wanted me to make for him.  When he finally decided, though, his “dream cake” for this year was definitely an unconventional type of cake (so typical of my brother).

“So, what kind of cake do you want for your birthday, Alan?”

“A PANCAKE CAKE!!”

He said it with the biggest, goofiest smile on his face.  How was I supposed to refuse his suggestion?

On the morning of Alan’s birthday, I made him a feast fit for a king (even he couldn’t clean off his plate).  I made him a stack of 11 buttermilk pancakes (some of which were studded with bananas), scrambled eggs, and bacon.  So. Much. Food!  Upon Alan’s request, one pancake was cut into his age, and another into a t-rex.  :)  And, of course, we topped off our meal with a jug of Simply Orange orange juice.  Yummm.

As for this buttermilk pancake recipe, from Joy The Baker, I enjoyed it. :)  This recipe is so straightforward and easy that you can’t really go wrong.  I was hoping for a little more “fluffy” pancake, but these definitely weren’t anywhere near disappointing.  Still on a search for my go-to pancake recipe, though…

It might be a little late, but I don’t see any point in not saying this:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIG BROTHER. :D

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!