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Raspberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:23:00 -0400

Crumb Topping Ingredients -

1 C flour
2/3 C white sugar
grated lemon zest of 1 lemon
8 tbsp melted unsalted butter

Cake Ingredients -

1 3/4 C flour
1 C white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 C sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 C raspberries
2 tbsp powdered sugar

To make the crumb topping, mix together the flour, sugar, and lemon zest. Add in melted butter and an optional few drops of lemon juice until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, and vanilla until well blended. Make a hole in the middle of the dry mix and slowly beat together until smooth.

Spoon batter into pre-greased cupcake pans until about half full and cover with raspberries. Then spread the crumb topping on top and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar (optional). Enjoy! :o)

xxoo,
beverly :)

Strawberry Stuffed Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

Wed, 02 May 2012 14:07:49 -0400

It’s almost summer, which means it’s strawberry season! Boxes and boxes of strawberries were on sale for 99 cents at the market, so I decided to bake something with them. I used a regular chocolate cake recipe that I got from Food.com, and cut out the center to fill it with strawberries and chocolate ganache/frosting. Definitely one of my favorite recipes so far. :)

Cupcake Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup veggie oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup boiling water

Frosting Ingredients: *see recipe on Chocolate Coffee Cake post (coffee optional)

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Add in eggs, milk, veggie oil, and vanilla extract. Beat for about two minutes until smooth. Add in boiling water and continue to mix slowly by hand.

Pour batter into cupcake tins and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

While allowing the cupcakes to cool, make the chocolate frosting and wash and slice strawberries into small cubes.

When cupcakes are completely cool, cut out a large hole at the top of the cupcake and use a spoon to scoop out a bit of cake, creating a nice spot to fill with strawberries and chocolate frosting. Then cover cupcake up with the original cake top that we had removed.

Frost cupcakes with the remaining chocolate frosting and garnish with more strawberries. :]

Enjoy & thanks for following!

Beverly

Pineapple Upside-down Cupcakes

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:55:00 -0400

Helllooo Everyone,

Sorry that I’ve been so inactive on this blog lately. I was in DC last quarter on the UCDC program and it wasn’t feasible to buy a whole new set of baking tools/ingredients for 10 weeks on the east coast. I had an amazing experience and particularly miss New York, but I am happy to be back in San Diego and baking again! It’s going to be an interesting last quarter at UCSD, and I am looking forward to the next few months.

—

Ingredients -

1/4 cups butter
2/3 cups packed brown sugar
1 Pineapple (or 1-2 cans)
10 maraschino cherries (optional)
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cups milk
1 egg

First, slice the off the edges of the pineapple. To learn how, watch this video. (Thanks to Nathan for helping me cut!)

Carve out the center and cut the slices into smaller pieces.

Spread melted butter directly onto the cupcake tins. The ones pictured are reusable silicon tins that Nathan bought! Sprinkle the bottom of the tins with brown sugar. Then toss in the small slices of pineapples (and cherries, if desired).

Next, use a whisk, or electric mixer, to combine the remaining ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Pour the batter over the prepared cupcake tins.

Bake in the oven for roughly 45 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

We had some leftover funfetti mix, so we made some cupcakes using those as well. I personally like the plain ones!

Enjoy. :)

Beverly

(Cracked) Pumpkin Cheesecake!

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 05:01:00 -0500

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Ingredients -

Crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:

3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese - room temp.
1 can (15 oz) pureed pumpkin
3 eggs + 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1.5 cups sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

Using a food processor, crush graham crackers into crumbs for your crust. Mix in the cinnamon and sugar, and then the melted butter. Press mixture onto 8-9” springform pan.

For the filling, whisk the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add in the pumpkin puree, eggs, and sour cream. Continue blending and add in the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Finally, whisk in the flour and vanilla extract.

Preheat oven and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, until only about a 2” middle section is still jiggling. Remove from oven and within 10 minutes, run a knife along the edges of the pan (if you don’t want the cheesecake to crack like the grand canyon, otherwise, don’t run the knife).

Cool for an hour, then refrigerate for 3 hours (ideally overnight) before eating. Enjoy!!

Thanks for following! Happy Thanksgiving! <3

Beverly :D

Pumpkin Bread

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:46:00 -0500

Hello there!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’ll be posting two pumpkin recipes today! :) This first one is a pumpkin bread recipe, baked with muffin tins because I realized I don’t have a bread pan. On that note, if anyone wants to buy me one for a Thanksgiving gift, I’ll gladly bake you some bread in return!

Anyway, enjoy.

Ingredients -

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cups water
3 cups white sugar (don’t bake this if you have diabetes…)
3.5 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Check out my sous-chef (“sue”-chef. yeah, I googled the spelling), Vivian! ;)

Whisk together the pumpkin puree, eggs, veggie oil, and water in a large bowl. Add in the sugar and mix until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

Then gradually stir the dry and wet ingredients together until just combined.

Sous-chef hard at work!!

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for ~20 minutes. Enjoy! :)

Thanks for following! xox,

Beverly :D

Chocolate Coffee Cake with Raspberries

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 01:14:00 -0500

Taken from this foodnetwork recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beattys-chocolate-cake-recipe/index.html. Made for SONYA’s birthday. :)

Try it. It’s awesome.

Cake Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup veggie oil
2 eggs, room temp.
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed coffee

Frosting Ingredients

6 oz good semi-sweet chocolate
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 egg yolk, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp instant coffee powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder

First, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, veggie oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.

Slowly stir together the wet & dry ingredients. Then add in the cup of freshly brewed coffee (thanks Anna for brewing coffee for me—it’s her expertise!) until just combined.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for ~45 minutes until an inserted fork comes out clean.

Melt the chocolate using a double boiler or in the microwave (be careful not to burn chocolate!). Set aside. With an electric mixer, whisk butter about 2 minutes until smooth. Add in egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating.

Add in powdered sugar slowly and mix until smooth and creamy. Dissolve instant coffee in 1 tbsp hot water and add into mixture.

Add in the melted chocolate and cocoa powder until just combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before frosting the cake.

Tip: Make sure the cake is almost cooled completely before frosting if you want your frosting to stay a light brown color. With Sonya’s cake, I was in a rush to make it by 12am that night, so the frosting turned into a darker brown color as it melted onto the cake (which ended up tasting delicious!), just FYI.

Try not to eat it all at once. Enjoy!!

Happy Birthday Sonya!!! 21 Raspberries for 21 years & many more to come. :)

Thanks for following! xox

Beverly :D

Mango Sticky Rice

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:31:00 -0500

Happy Veteran’s Day Weekend! :)

I don’t know why it is, but I always get increasingly busy as the quarter progresses, which is why I haven’t been blogging lately. However, I will make up for it tonight by posting a few recipes! I’ve still been baking at least once a week, so it’s all good.

It’s been a crazy few weekends though, with my best friends’ birthdays in October, and then going to Santa Barbara for Halloween. It was my last Halloween in college, so I had to do it right by going up to party central to celebrate! After that I spent last weekend in SF for the PBL Fall Conference…9 hours there and 9 hours back in one weekend was pretty intense (but worth it!). To top it all off, Viv and Lucy visited me in SD this weekend and then I drove back to LA yesterday to see Everybody Else with Vivian. They’re my favorite band and I fall in love with them all over again each time I see them live—4 times and counting. Their music makes me so nostalgic. :)

Everybody Else brings back memories of high school and early college days. Today it actually hit me that I’m graduating from college in 7 months. SEVEN MONTHS! I don’t think I want to graduate yet. I’m going to miss living away from home and being able to see my friends whenever I want, all in one location. It’s still a bit terrifying to think that I’m going to be out of school and working for years to come after college.

Anyway, enough about my life. Here’s the recipe for mango sticky rice:

Sticky Rice Ingredients

1.5 cups short-grain sticky rice
2 cups water
1.5 cups coconut milk
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Coconut Milk & Mangoes

1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp tapioca starch
3 mangoes (peeled and sliced)
1 tbsp toasted sesame

Combine the Sticky Rice and water in a pot and cook the rice for about 15-20 minutes until all the water is absorbed and the rice is done. In a separate pot, combine the coconut milk, sugar, and salt, and bring to a boil.

Stir the coconut mixture into the cooked rice until combined and allow rice to cool for an hour.

While the rice is cooling, prepare the coconut topping by boiling the coconut milk, sugar, salt, and tapioca starch (used to thicken sauce). Bring to a boil then remove from heat.

Wash, peel, and slice your mangoes. Then toast sesame seeds in a pan for a couple of minutes. Top off your rice bowls with mangoes and garnish with sesame seeds! Enjoy! :)

Thanks for following! xox

Beverly

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:17:00 -0400

Happy Sunday!

I made these red velvet cupcakes last weekend for Vivian’s birthday. They came out quite nicely in a short amount of time so I would definitely recommend trying them. Also Viv said she couldn’t wait to get the recipe, so here it is! :)

Cupcakes -

1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup + 2 tsp sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1/2 one-oz bottle red food coloring
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting -

1/4 eight-oz package cream cheese
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4-1 cup powdered (confectioner’s) sugar

Makes ~6-8 cupcakes.

Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time. Then mix in sour cream, milk, food coloring, and vanilla extract—the mixture will appear really vibrantly red, but becomes dark reddish-brown once the dry ingredients are mixed in!

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, & salt). Gradually mix together the dry components with the rest the mixture.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pan with cute paper cups. Fill 3/4 full with cupcake batter and bake for 20-25 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the oven and allow them to cool completely before frosting. This is what I love about making cakes…mix all the ingredients together, bake, and it’s done. :)

For the frosting, use an electric mixer to beat the softened cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla extract until fluffy. Add in confectioner’s sugar to taste. Allow frosting to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before frosting the cupcakes to give it a better texture. Enjoy!!

Thanks for following! xox

Beverly :)

Pomegranate Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 03:56:00 -0400

Helloooooo!

It’s been a little over a week since I last blogged. I’ve been a little busy lately with my bestie Vivian Han’s 21st in LA last weekend, and a midterm that I had this morning (I’m dreading week 5 when I have 3 in a row!). Anyway, I have still been baking of course, so I wanted to make sure to post this recipe of the oatmeal cookies that I made recently.

These are POMEGRANATE chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I wanted to try and be creative by using dried pomegranates, but to be honest they just taste like cranberries in the cookies =P. Anyway, enjoy!

Ingredients -

3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 an egg (funny, i know. I halved the original recipe)
1 cup quick cooking oats
3/4 all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried pomegranates (or cranberries)

This is a super easy recipe that makes about 20-24 cookies. :)

First, cream together the softened butter and brown sugar until soft and creamy. With an electric mixer, mix in vanilla extract and half of an egg (I usually scramble it into a bowl and pour half into the mix).

Next, add in the oats, flour, baking soda, and salt. Kneed the ingredients together to form an oatmeal cookie dough.

Finally, add in the fun ingredients (pomegranates, chocolate chips) and the dough is ready to bake. Unlike the chocolate chip recipe that was previously posted, oatmeal cookies will turn out tasting and looking fine if you bake them right away…which means you can eat them right away!

On a side note…here’s a picture of the new kitchen!!! I love all the cabinet and counter space, as it spoils me with plenty of space for baking. ^__^

Thanks for following! xox

Beverly :)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 03:51:28 -0400

Hi there!

I’ve recently figured out that cookies are probably the easiest things to bake…and they’re so easy to store! I made these chocolate chip cookies last weekend and they lasted really well in the fridge (until the housewarming party yesterday where they were completely demolished). They sort of taste like cookie dough that you would buy from a grocery store…except its fresh. from scratch. so you can judge whether that’s a good thing or not. And if you are ever in need of cookie dough…well, I can make that happen.

Note: I’m not as impressive as you may think! I do NOT make these recipes on my own…I’ve just been lucky at selecting good recipes from various websites/blogs and sometimes add/adjust it a bit if I am feeling creative.

Tips for making great cookies:

Use softened butter—not butter right out of the fridge, and not melted butter
Time permitting, refrigerate your cookie dough for 24 hours before baking them. I learned that this creates cool-looking cracks in your cookies (see below, picture on the left was baked 3 days after the dough was made; right was baked right away)
If you like chewy cookies but your cookies tend to become crunchy after cooling, you’re baking them for too long. It’s really easy to over-bake cookies. Keep in mind that when your cookies are “done baking”, they’re still pretty gooey in the middle (typically 8-12 minutes, depending on your oven). They’ll solidify and stay soft after cooling for a couple of minutes!

Ingredients -

2 sticks softened butter
7/8 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
3 cups + 1 tbsp flour
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Makes: 2-3 dozen cookies

I’m a fan of Target’s Market Pantry brand…can you tell?

With an electric mixer, cream together butter and white and brown sugars until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a separate bowl. Kneed in dry ingredients to sugar and butter mixture (easiest way to do this is with your hands—don’t be afraid to get dirty!). Finally, add in the vanilla extract and chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 24+ hours (up to a week). Bake for 10 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. ENJOY!!

Thanks for following! xox

Beverly :D

Dark Chocolate Souffle

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:05:52 -0400

I really like dark chocolate. I like it’s bittersweet taste, and the fact that it makes me feel less guilty for eating sweets because I like to think that having antioxidants makes it good for my health. I guess it’s no surprise that when I decided to make souffles for the first time, it would be dark chocolate souffle! But I have to say that I made the mistake of using bittersweet chocolate when I think I should have used semisweet instead.

What’s the difference between bittersweet and semisweet chocolate?

Semisweet chocolate is sweeter than bittersweet chocolate and usually contains ~30-50% cacao. Bittersweet, on the other hand, contains about 60% cacao and has more of an intense, dark chocolaty taste.

This recipe uses bittersweet chocolate but you can decide what you would prefer. I used Ghirardelli’s bittersweet 60% cacao chocolate and, even though I love dark chocolate, I would have preferred if it was a tad sweeter!

Ingredients -

2.5 tbsp butter, softened
3 oz bitter/semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2.5 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 medium ramekins or 4 mini ramekins

Where can I find cream of tartar?

Cream of tartar can be found at any grocery store (Ralphs, Albertsons, etc.) in the spices section. :)

Use 1/2 tbsp of butter to coat the insides of your ramekins (thanks Francine for letting me borrow them! :D). Then use 1/2 tbsp of sugar to line the butter-coated insides (yum, more calories!).

Melt the chocolate chips and butter together using a double broiler. This can easily be done by placing a glass or ceramic bowl on top of boiling water in a small pot. Make sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl or else your chocolate will burn! Stir regularly so that the chocolate and butter can combine and melt together.

Separate the egg white and egg yolks of the two eggs. Remove the chocolate & butter mixture from heat and stir in egg yolks and the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar. Whisk the mixture together using an electric mixer until soft peaks form.

Fold egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture carefully using a spatula or large spoon. Be careful not to overmix! Fill the prepared ramekins about 3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Let them cool for 5-10 minutes and garnish with chocolate ganache & powdered sugar (optional). Eat these immediately…cause they will not be very souffle-ish after refrigerating for a night (but still good! :))

Thanks for following! xox

Beverly :D

Dark Chocolate Walnut Brownies

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:32:00 -0400

Hi Everyone!

I’ve been slacking on the blogging lately, but I haven’t stopped or given up (yet, anyway)! I just moved into my new apartment in San Diego at Regents La Jolla and we haven’t gotten our internet installed yet, so I’ve been stealing internet at the Starbucks downstairs from the complex. : )

The apartment is beautiful! But I have to admit, San Diego life isn’t any more interesting than I remembered it. It’s been less than a week and I find myself looking for things to do already, and I guess not having internet access doesn’t help. I’m taking 5 classes this quarter, so that will keep me pretty busy. I will, however, continue baking once a week! These next two posts are from last week and the week before…enjoy!

—

Ingredients -

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened (dark chocolate) cocoa powder
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2-1 cup walnuts

These brownies were super easy to make! Prep ingredients, bake, and they are ready to eat in less than an hour. I brought them to my niece’s 9th birthday party and realized that I definitely did not make enough, so if baking for a large party, double the recipe. : )

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until soft peaks form. Then add in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until combined. Add in the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder. Add in walnuts and bake in an 8x8 pan at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Thanks for following! xox

Beverly :D

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:57:34 -0400

Last week I went up to Santa Barbara to celebrate my 21st and I meant to post a recipe of these rainbow jello shots that we made…or attempted to make. Anyway, it didn’t turn out as cute-looking as we had hoped, so I decided not to create a post on it (but we ate it all anyway!). I’ve been craving some strawberry shortcake, so I decided to make some mini strawberry shortcake cupcakes. It was my first time making these and it turned out surprisingly okay. At first, I wasn’t too big of a fan because I thought the texture was a bit strange, but after it cooled in the fridge it actually was pretty decent! As a tip, I wouldn’t make frosting in 100 degree weather as it melts very easily.

Step 1: Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients -

1 cup chopped strawberries
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch mixed in 1 tbsp water
3/4 cups sugar
3/8 cups oil
1.5 eggs
3/8 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

I decided to first make the strawberry filling mixture first in order to cool it while I prep the cupcake batter. Chop up the strawberries and heat with water and sugar in a small pot over the stove for about 5 minutes or until berries are softened. Then add in the cornstarch to thicken the mixture and stir for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool in the fridge.

Next, blend together the sugar and oil. Add in the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly blend in the dry ingredients into the mixture. This will form a thick liquid mixture.

Next, line your cupcake pan (I used a silicone mini pan) and pour in the batter until about 1/3 filled. Drop some strawberry filling mixture (that we made earlier) and cover it up with more cupcake batter. Fill cupcake pan about 3/4 full. Set the oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 12 minutes.

While the cupcakes are baking, prepare the strawberry frosting!

Ingredients -

6tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 tsp milk
strawberry jam (strawberry filling mixture can be used for this purpose)

First, whisk the butter with an electric mixture until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and continue mixing. I had to kneed the sugar and butter together so that they would blend better. Then add in the vanilla, salt, and milk and continue blending for about 2 minutes until it becomes a smooth, creamy frosting.

I redid the strawberry filling with smaller-chopped strawberries to add into the frosting. You can also use strawberry jam for this purpose. Add in to taste…fyi I used about 1/3 cups.

Take the cupcakes out of the oven and COOL them! Make sure they are fully cooled before frosting. I got a little anxious and my frosting became kind of melty (the 100 degree weather didn’t help either). Put some strawberries on top for decor and voilá! you’ve made strawberry shortcake cupcakes. :D

Thanks for following! xox

Beverly

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Cranberries & Walnuts

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:18:00 -0400

Since it’s finally summer time for me, I have lots of time to bake and I’m going to make an effort to post a new recipe each week (probably on Wednesdays since that seems to be the pattern). I plan to continue this throughout the school year, so my apartment mates will be eating lots of baked goods!!

This recipe is adapted from a chocolate chip cookie recipe from the food network featuring the secret ingredient: cornstarch! I haven’t made many cookies before, but all of the ones I used to make would become hard and crunchy. However, this one (with the added cornstarch) remains soft after baking! Enjoy! : )

Ingredients -

3/4 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

First, use an electric mixer (by far my best baking investment for $6.99 at Target!) to cream together the two sugars and softened butter until smooth.

Blend in the egg and vanilla extract. Then, add in flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt and kneed the ingredients together into a soft ball.

Now add in the fun ingredients and kneed together! : )
— cranberries, chocolate chips, & walnuts —

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for ~10 minutes until edges are lightly browned.

Thanks for following! xox
Beverly

Girl Scouts Samoa Cookies!

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:24:00 -0400

This first post features my favorite Girl Scouts cookies: Samoas! These are dark chocolate, coconut caramel dipped shortbread cookies. They took a couple of hours to prepare, so if you’re looking for an easy way out…I’d advise spending your time searching for a Girl Scout instead. Below is the recipe (borrowed from Once Upon a Plate Recipes)…enjoy! : )

Step 1: Shortbread Cookie

Ingredients -

1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk

First, blend together butter and sugar until smooth. Next, add in the flour, baking powder, salt, and vanilla extract. Whisk or kneed dough together, adding in milk to make it into a soft, non-sticky ball of dough.

Gather ~1/3 of the dough and roll it out between two sheets of wax paper until dough is approximately 1/4” thick.

Use a round cookie cutter (or the top of a jar) and cut out circles of about 2” in diameter. Then, select a smaller circle and cut out the center of the cookie to make a donut-like shape.

Preheat the over to 350 degrees and bake cookies for about 10 minutes until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and set on a plate to cool. Be careful, as the cookies may break easily.

Step 2. Coconut Caramel Topping

Ingredients -

3 cups coconut
12 oz chewy caramels
1/3 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk

Toast the coconut on a pan over light fire or in an oven for a few minutes, until lightly browned. Unwrap caramels combine with salt and milk in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, stir, then microwave again for 30-60 seconds as necessary until caramel is smooth. Then, mix in coconut.

Using a small spatula or a spoon, spread caramel-coconut mixture on top of cooled shortbread cookies.

Step 3. Dark Chocolate

Ingredients -

8 oz (dark) chocolate chips/bar

Break up chocolate into small pieces and microwave for 60-90 seconds, stopping every 20-30 seconds to stir, until chocolate is smooth. Dip bottom of cookies into melted chocolate, then place cookies onto wax paper. When finished, cool cookies in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before enjoying.

Thanks for following! xox
Beverly