Rugelach!

I baked my mom's world famous rugelach recipe for a class project. I can't say much about this recipe because it is famous and only hers to share but all I can say is that these were a hit with those who ate them and I can't wait to make them again! What is so cool about making them is that they are made in the food processor and I love any chance I get to use my Cuisinart. It is also a lot of fun to roll them up...hopefully next time I make them I will own a rolling pin so I don't have to use a seltzer bottle instead :)

S'more Memorial Day Baking

I constantly find recipes for delicious looking baked goods online but when I found a recipe for S'more Cookie Bars, I had to make them for a certain S'more-loving roommate of mine. I have to say that although I was excited about these the entire time I was baking, the final product was a bit dissapointing: the chocolate to marshmallow ratio is off--too much chocolate and not enough marshmallow. I added fluff to the top of the bars, which I think made them better (according to the S'more expert) but they are still very rich--too much chocolate! It was fun to branch out a bit with my baking even though it wasn't a complete success. In the top photo you will find all the ingredients used (brown sugar, regular sugar, white whole wheat flour, an egg, 1/2 cup butter, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 hershey's chocolate bars, 8 graham crackers, and 1.5 cups fluff). The middle photo is the graham cracker dough in the mixer and then the bottom pictures features the layering and then the final product.

Memorial Day Weekend Baking

Banana muffins from scratch is probably the easiest baking I have ever done just because they don't involve using the mixer (if the batter is over-stirred it won't have the right consistency). For these muffins, first you mix 4 mashed bananas, one slightly beaten egg, 1/3 cup melted butter, and 1/2 cup sugar. Then in another bowl you mix together a tsp baking soda, a tsp baking powder, a tsp salt, and 1 and 1/2 cups flour (I used King Arthur white whole-wheat flour). Finallu mix together the wet and dry ingredients, being careful not to overstir. I added some chocolate chips to a few of them. Adding walnuts to the batter would also be delicious. See the before and after photos. The great thing about these muffins is that they freeze really nicely.

Get Your Bake On

A week off from school clearly called for some baking: I made my mom's crispy chocolate chip cookie recipe. Featured here are all the ingredients needed: 3.5 cups white whole wheat flour, a cup of sugar, a cup of light brown sugar, a tbsp baking soda, a tsp salt, a tbsp milk, 2 tsp vanilla, an egg, a stick of butter, a stick of margarine, 3/4 cup canola oil and chocolate chips, oats, and corn flakes (1 cup each). This recipe makes A LOT of cookie dough and it freezes really well, so today I only made a few cookies and then froze the rest of the dough for when the girls come to visit next week. First I sifted the flour with the baking soda and salt. Then I used the mixer (I am a lucky duck to have a kitchen aid; an amazing gift from ADG's mom--I believe it first belonged to adam's grandma-- the gift that keeps on giving!) to cream the butter/marg/sugar/brown sugar/vanilla/milk/egg etc. Then I slowly added the oil and flour to mix together and voila: crispy chocolate cookie dough! Pictured here are the cookies on my new plate, an awesome bday surprise from LKK.

end of semester baking!

So Monday night I was invited to a Hanukkah party with my fellow HT student teachers at our teacher's house. I decided it would be nice to bring dessert and since one of my classmates is vegan, I thought of making the krazy chocolate cake (a recipe courtesy of my mom) since it is vegan friendly. Naturally, I had to make the amazing oreo cream cheese icing (pictured in the mixer pre-oreo), so I only iced half of the cake (also pictured) so my vegan friend could enjoy as well. The cake was a hit!

I am really learning to love baking when I get the time, and it is so great having the kitchen aid mixer (courtesy of adg's mom). The cake recipe was featured previously on QCC.

happy bday adg!

I surprised Adam last night with a homemade bday cake. This was the most delicious, chocolate-y, moist cake ever. the chocolate cake is a depression-era recipe that my mom gave me. The recipe doesn't call for eggs, so it was a popular recipe then because of food shortages. Then I made a homemade oreo cream cheese icing, amazing! Check out the recipe for the cake below:

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups cold water

DIRECTIONS

1. Sift flour, sugar, salt, soda, and cocoa together into a 9 x 13 inch ungreased cake pan. Make three wells. Pour oil into one well, vinegar into second, and vanilla into third well. Pour cold water over all, and stir well with fork.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes,

crispy choc chip cookies!

So my mom has this awesome recipe for crispy chocolate cookies. Everything is in these babies: choc chips, corn flakes, oats, light brown sugar, regular sugar, etc etc. Adam's mom is amazing and gave me a kitchen aid mixer and I really wanted to test it out so I figured whats better than cookies?? My first real baking experience on my own, and they taste awesome. The batter is so huge that I froze most of it, so now I have three batches of dough to make more cookies later on. Come visit me and I'll save some for you!

chicken caesar salad

So for dinner tonight I made homemade chicken caesar salad. For the chicken, I used a barefoot contessa chicken recipe my mom showed me--its a great recipe for basic chicken to top any salad or to even make into chicken salad. I started by roasting 2 chicken breasts. Then I whipped together the ingredients for a homemade low fat dressing (low fat mayo, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, anchovy paste, s&p), washed some lettuce and stuck both into the fridge for later. After roasting the chicken, I waited for it to cool and them removed all the chicken from the bones/skin, and cut the poultry up into pieces. I placed the chicken in the fridge to cool down. After my roomie returned from the gym, he set the table while I prepared the salad and we were ready to go! The meal turned out really well--we both enjoyed.

Oh, I also made banana muffins tonight--pics to come!