Chocolate Drop Cookies By: Kailey Ann

Chocolate Drop Cookies


Ingredients:

1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons of butter
1/3 cup of buttermilk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 large egg
6 tablespoons of baking cocoa
1 3/4 cups of all-purpose baking flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt


Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease cookie sheet with butter or spray with cooking spray.

2. Beat sugar, butter, buttermilk, vanilla, egg, and baking cocoa in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with a spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt.

3. Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched in center. Quickly remove from cookie sheet and place onto a wire rack and allow to cool. ENJOY!!!

Vanilla Cupcakes by: Kailey Ann

Plain but Amazing Vanilla Cupcakes


Ingredients:

2cups of all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of butter
1 1/2 cups of sugar
4 eggs, seperated
1 cup of milk
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla


Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

3. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder, set aside.

4. In a new bowl, combine butter, 1 cup of sugar, egg yolks, milk, and vanilla.

5. Now add the dry ingredients to the mix.

6. Mix at low speed for 2 minutes.

7. Whip up remaining sugar with the egg whites, mixing at high speed until fluffy and smooth. Fold into batter.

8. Fill liners one half to two thirds full. Make sure not to overfill.

9. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then move to wire rack to cool completely.

10. Frost with Buttercream Frosting!




Buttercream Frosting


Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter
4 cups of powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
4 to 5 tablespoons of milk
2 teaspoons of vanillla



Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream butter until it's very fluffy.

2. Add part of the sugar and the salt and beat again.

3. Continue adding sugar and milk in small batches, alternately, beating until very fluffy.

4, Stir in the vanilla.

5. Frost your Plain but Amazing Cupcakes and ENJOY!!!

Peanut Butter and Honey Cookies!

Oh yes yes I did it. I made the world's sweetest and softest cookie. I break th rules its what i do when it comes to cooking. Be prepared to be blown away! My inspiration for this cookie was literally my sweet tooth. In the morning I always crave sugar and peanut butter. Therefore this cookie had to be made. However, the honey was not in the recipe until I realized I had ran out of sugar. I thought, it wont hurt to at least try. I also mixed it with a little splenda. Another ingredient that was unique was a new thing from Jiff. Whenever we go to Disneyland, I pack a ton of snacks. The last time we went I found these little peanut butter containers called Jiff to go. They had one called chocolate silk and peanut butter. I had noticed a couple left over containers in the pantry so I said what the heck! And I dumped them out into the mixing bowl. So the recipe is as follows:

1/2 cup peanut butter
2 containers jiff to go chocolate silk (optional)
1/4 cup honey
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup splenda (optional)
2 sticks room temperature butter (I use a low calorie butter like challenge)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs (I use egg substitute egg beaters. They really make a better cookie)
2/1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 package peanut butter chips

In a large bowl mix together salt, baking soda, and flour and set aside. In a mixer combine butter, peanut butter, chocolate silk, brown sugar, splenda, vanilla, and honey. Mix on low speed for a minute and then raise to medium high speed until the mixture is whipped and creamy. Reduce speed to low and add the eggs. Bring speed back up to medium high to bring the mixture back up to a creamy consistency. And again, reduce speed to low and slowly incorporate the flour mixture. Once it is all mixed well (and it should be thick yet still soft). Add in peanut butter chips and mix on low for a couple seconds until they are well incorporated. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place a heaping spoonful of cookie dough on cookie sheet about 1-2 inches apart. Bake for 6-7 minutes or until they no longer look like raw dough. Do not let them brown at all. Take them out and let them sit for 5 minutes and then place on either a plate to let them firm up more or in a cookie jar to keep them extra soft. If you put them all in the cookie jar because they are so soft, they have a tendency to bunch up together. I personally enjoy that because its fun to just kind of reach in and peal away a moist cookie but if you prefer them to be more crunchy and firm, add a couple of minutes to the baking time and allow them to sit on a plate for a while before placing them in a cookie jar. The most important and final step is to ENJOY!!

A Sweet Party/Gift Tip

If you are in charge of making a sweet for a party or event or simply want to give a gift to someone, I have a great way to dress it up. If you are anything like me, sometimes your treats will come out looking a little sloppy. For cupcakes, cookies, truffles, candies, or anything of the sort, it is all about the presentation. If you have messed up your treat a bit and it doesnt look perfect, first I just want to say, THAT IS OKAY. Nothing is absolutely perfect unless you are trying to enter in a contest. So, go to your local craft store and find a pretty basket or container. For the picture I posted, I found this super cute wooden box in the basket aisle of Michaels. I then bought a styrofoam block in a few aisles down (just because I was doing truffle pops on a stick) and then I found cute paper pink confetti and filled the box with that. To make it even better, a few more aisles down you will find cute clear platic wrappers of all sizes. If you made rice crispy treats or cookies, these are perfect for those. Even for candies. And then I go down to the ribbon aisle. They have such an amazing assortment of ribbons. These will be used to tie the wrappers. Once your treats are nicely wrapped, place them on the pink confetti in the box and you are ready to go. For truffles, there is another aisle where they have mini cupcake wrappers/holders. They come in so many cute decorations and colors. Place the truffle in the holder and then place them on the pink confetti in the box. At this point, the presentation is so beautiful that nobody will notice the imperfections. This is such a cute, fun, and easy idea that will really wow the crowd.

Oreo Cream Filled Cupcakes

1 box of any chocolate cake mix ingredients according to cake mix package 1 package of oreos 1 package of cream cheese 1 container white frosting 1 zip lock bag Bake cupcakes according to cake mix package. Be sure to bake them at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Cover them with foil and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes. Ground oreos in a food processor or in a bag with a mallot until oreos are finely ground. In a large bowl mix oreo and cream cheese until well blended. Once blended add in frosting and fold in to create a pretty white oreo frosting. Stamp a hole half way down the middle of each cupcake. Use the zip lock bag as a piping bag. Spoon frosting into the zip lock and squeeze frosting down and tie off the top of the bag making sure all of the air is out. With kitchen sizzors, cut the corner of the ziplock bag. Squeezing the bag, start piping the frosting down the hole in the cupcake and working your way up and around to frost each cupcake. Enjoy! Note: cupcakes will be dangerously good!!

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies!

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup nutella
2 eggs (I use egg substitute because its healthier and makes a great cookie)
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 sticks room temperature butter (I like to use Challenge butter or similar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 package peanut butter chips

In a large mixer add peanut butter, nutella, butter, vanilla, and both sugars and mix on medium speed for 1 minute and then mix on medium high until very creamy and whipped looking. Reduce speed to low and add eggs one at a time. Once eggs are well mixed, turn speed ti medium high to allow it to reach the creamy and fluffy texture again. In a large bowl mix flour, salt, and baking soda. Mix well. Reduce speed to low again on mixer and slowly add the flour mixture one cup at a time. Once it is all well mixed in, add the peanut butter chips until well incorporated. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place a heaping tablespoon of dough about an inch apart on a baking sheet and bake for 6-7 minutes. They may look soft still but if you like a soft cookie, take the cookies out after that 6-7 minutes and allow to sit for 10 minutes and they will develop the perfect texture and stay soft. If you like a crunchier cookie, bake them for 8-9 minutes. Enjoy!
This recipe makes about 36-48 cookies.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

This is a MUST try recipe!!

1 box of french vanilla or yellow cake mix
ingredients according to cake mix package
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup peanut butter chips
1/4 cup strawberry syrup (found in pancake section of store)
1 cup seedless strawberry jam
1 container of white frosting

Follow instructions on cake mix package and add peanut butter to the mixture. Once well mixed into the batter, fill cupcake tin 2/3 of the way full in each one. Take about a teaspoon of the strawberry syrup for each cupcake and pour in to each one. Then take a toothpick and kind of swirl the syrup around the batter to create a unique design. Bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Take out of oven and cover with tin foil to allow to cool. By covering it, it allows the moisture to stay in and keep a really moist cake. In a medium bowl combine strawberry jam and frosting. Mix together well. Place a good heaping spoon of frosting on each cupcake then top with a sprinkle of the peanut butter chips. Enjoy!