Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

It officially feels like fall. Why does summer always go by SO fast, leaving me with a list of things I wanted to do?? It rained just about the whole day today so I mostly stayed inside with sweats on and looking like I just climbed out of bed. You think I would be used to it, growing up in Washington and all. As long as it doesn't stick around for too long, i'm ok with it.
Anyway, on to the cookies. I think of Christmastime when I think of sugar cookies. Growing up that's the only time we really made (and decorated) them. I'm not a big sugar cookie person, mainly since there's no chocolate involved. But I wanted to try these so I made them for a girl's night. These cookies were really good, thick and fluffy. I would make them again. The frosting wasn't what I expected though..I was hoping for a light and fluffy frosting, but instead this was more like a glaze. A little runny at first but then hardens rather quickly. Overall, I would definitely reccomend giving them a shot!
Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies
Annie's Eats



Yield: about 2 dozen large cookies
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
4½ cups all-purpose flour
4½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
1½ cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
3 large eggs
5 tsp. vanilla extract

For the frosting:
5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/3 cup (5 1/3 tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
7-8 tbsp. milk (plus more, as needed)
Food coloring (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)

Directions:
To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt, and whisk together to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until soft and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed. Blend in the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients mixing just until incorporated and evenly mixed. Cover and chill the dough for 1 hour.
When you are ready to bake the cookies, scoop a scant quarter cup of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the ball slightly and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the cookies at least 2-3 inches apart. Bake about 10-12 minutes or just until set. The edges should be no more than very lightly browned, if at all. Let cool on the baking sheet for several minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To frost the cookies, place the confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter, vanilla, and milk to the bowl and whisk until smooth. Whisk in additional milk as necessary, 1 teaspoon at a time, until you reach your desired consistency. Tint with food coloring if desired. Use an offset spatula or spoon to frost the cooled cookies. Top with sprinkles if desired. Store in an airtight container.

Turkey Pesto Panini

I can only imagine how real Italian food tastes. My brother served a mission for our church in Italy. When he was finished my parents went out there to visit before he came home and unfortunately that was about 2 weeks before I got married. Not wanting to leave my soon-to-be husband for soo long (a week), I decided not to go. What was I thinking?? Right? So now he owes me a trip to Italy. He knows this and actually brings it up often. Last night's dinner was Italian inspired. I've been sick the last couple of days and cooking is on my list of last things I want to do when i'm sick, so panini's it was. You can use whatever kind of sandwhich fillings you like, I used the traditional flavors of fresh mozzarella, basil, pesto and turkey (my husband opted for pancetta). I also bought some smore's gelato cause hey, it's Italian night, i'm sick, and I have a thing for smore's.
P.S.- you don't need any fancy panini press to make the sandwhich.

Turkey Pesto Panini

Ingredients:
Bread- you can use whatever type you prefer, I had a loaf of sliced sourdough that I used and it was great.
Fresh mozzarella, sliced
Pesto- homemade or store bought. I went the store bought route.
Turkey
Fresh basil (optional)
Butter

Directions:
Preheat grill pan, or skillet.
Spread a layer of pesto on one slice of bread.
Top with mozzarella, turkey and basil then top with another slice of bread.
Butter the outside of top slice of bread then lay buttered side down in preheated pan.
Using another skillet, place it on top of sandwhich and press down slightly.
Cook until golden brown then remove skillet and butter the slice of bread facing up then flip sandwhich over.
Replace skillet back on top of sandwhich and grill other side until golden brown.

Smore's Pie

Today is the first day of Autumn, and i'm posting a smore's pie. Hey, I don't just eat smores in the summer, it's a year round thing for me. My mom came to visit a couple weeks ago and i've been wanting to try this pie for a while, so I decided then would be a good time. My mom says she doesn't like smore's (crazy woman) but she liked this pie. This is so super simple to make and tastes amazing. I would find myself cutting off a thin slice, then going back again for another thin slice, repeat process. It's much richer cold and while it's still good from the refrigerator, I prefer it much better heated up in the microwave for a few seconds. And don't forget to drizzle some hot fudge over it. Totally optional, but more chocolate is always better :)

Smore's Pie

the pastry affair

Yields 6-8 servings
Graham Cracker Crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until evenly coated. Press mixture into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until fragrant.
Keep oven running.

Chocolate Filling:

3/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup milk

10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Pinch of salt

2 eggs, whisked

1 bag of large marshmallows

In a medium saucepan, whisk together cream and milk. Warm over medium-low heat. Add in chocolate and stir until chocolate has melted and is smooth. Slowly add whisked eggs and mix until smooth.
Pour chocolate filling into baked pie crust. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until chocolate filling is set and does not move when pie is lightly shaken. Remove from oven.
Using a kitchen shears, cut marshmallows in half. Place halves in concentric circles over the top of the pie until covered.
Set oven to broil. Place pie under the broiler and lightly toast the marshmallows. This can take anywhere from 2-5 minutes, so watch those marshmallows closely!
Chill pie in the refrigerator to set for 2-3 hours.

To serve, spray a knife with non-stick cooking spray and cut the cold pie into slices. Heat if prefered and drizzle with chocolate sauce, if desired.

Snickers Cupcakes

See the cupcake stand? I made it. It's really easy, you can make one a number of ways and you can find step by step tutorials online. I even reused this one from Landon's baby blessing by recovering it with a different color cardstock and changing the ribbon. It makes things a lot easier that way.
I've posted this cupcake recipe before, when I made the chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes. It's a great doctored up cake mix and the cupcakes turn out incredibly moist. With sourcream and pudding in the mix, how could they not?? I'm not so much a fan of the candy bars baked into the middle. They melt into the cupcake so you can't tell so much that it was a candy bar. Except I have put a whole reese's cup into the bottom of a cupcake before and baked it and that was really good, it held pretty well. So next time I would just skip baking it in and just put them on the top. It's up to you, either way they're good!

Snickers Cupcakes
My Baking Addiction


Makes 24-30 cupcakes
For the cake:
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs; lightly beaten
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon of vanilla
24-30 frozen Snickers Miniatures

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line (2) 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, vanilla and water.
4. Evenly divide the batter amongst the prepared pans.
5. Gently push a frozen Snickers Miniature bar into the center of the batter and smooth the surface making sure to cover the candy bar with batter.
6. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Cool cupcakes thoroughly on wire rack.

Caramel Buttercream Frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter; room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup caramel topping; plus more for drizzling
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla extract, salt and caramel syrup and combine well.
2. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, give it a taste and decide if you want to add in more caramel syrup. For thicker frosting you can gradually add in a little more sugar.
Garnish with chopped Snickers bars and a drizzle of caramel of caramel syrup.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

He's done! Matt finished Chiropractic school about 2 weeks ago (real world here we come!) And of course that calls for a celebration. We had a little party, bbq-at Matt's request, and these cheesecake strawberries were a great option. Especially to counter all the chocolate. The best part about serving these to a large crowd is they are so so fast to prepare and you can make them the day before and store covered in the refrigerator.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

The Sweets Life

Ingredients:
1 lb large strawberries
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3-4 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
graham cracker crumbs

Directions:

1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry. Remove the top and clean out with a paring knife. Prep all strawberries and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or ziploc with the corner snipped off. Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately, refrigerate until serving.

Catching Up

First off, i'm loving the produce I get to pick from my garden everyday. I usually get a few tomatoes everyday and today I found a monster zucchini in there and a hidden cucumber, our first one! It's a little difficult finding stuff in the garden because we have a raspberry bush that is taking the area over.

With that out of the way, we had Landon's baby blessing the weekend before last and I meant to take pictures of everything. It was a lot of fun but with all the commotion I didn't get around to it. So instead of posting individual recipes i'm just going to post photos and recipe links.

The first thing I made were oreo brownies. No recipe needed really. I just made brownies and added about 12 chopped up oreos to the batter, then drizzled them with melted white chocolate after they cooked.

Next up are baby blueberry pies from Dinner With Julie. I didn't make the maple vanilla ice cream but I did make them in a mini muffin pan and added a lattice top to some of them with the extra dough I had. The ones with the top looked a lot cuter, like tiny little pies. I've also made mini cherry pies since as well.

Then there's vanilla bean cupcakes from My Baking Addiction. If you're into the classic vanilla on vanilla, this recipe is for you. I also made these ones mini. With several different dessert selections it's nice to have mini versions so you can try more things.


Last weekend we had a church dinner so I took a Reese's peanut butter cup cake. I've been wanting to make it for a while but needed the occassion. I don't get to make cakes often enough.. I was thinking this cake would be a lot bigger than it was and was slightly dissappointed that it wasn't. I was only thinking that because on the site I got the recipe from the cake looked huge! But they must have doubled it for theirs or something.. Anyway it was still really good! Can't go wrong with chocolate and pb, right?

Recipe for the cake and frosting can be found on Annie's Eats.

These recipes really deserve their own post seeing as how wonderful they all are, but I think i'm pretty caught up now.

Bloomin Pizza Bread

I have things to post, but it's hard finding the time to do it. And honestly, i'm trying to keep my eyes open at the moment. Going from 1 kid to 2 I feel like i'm soo much busier now than I was before! Not that I really am..it just takes so long to get things done and the day's over before I know it. Which is why simple and quick meals are so great. As soon as I saw this loaf of deliciousness I had to make it soon. So when Friday night (party night) came around, we grabbed a movie and some 'bubbly' and devoured this guy. Yes it was as good as it sounds and I know we'll be having it again for one of our party nights.
*This pizza bread is so versatile you don't really have to stick with a recipe, you can add in whatever you desire.*
Bloomin Pizza Bread
The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients:
1 unsliced round loaf sourdough bread
12-16 ounces mozzarella or Provolone cheese, thinly sliced
1 (3.5 ounce) package pepperoni, halved
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasonings
2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese
pizza/marinara sauce for dipping

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust. This can be a little tricky going the second way but the bread is very forgiving.Place bread on a foil-lined baking sheet and insert cheese slices and pepperoni between cuts. Combine butter, garlic powder, and Italian seasonings. Drizzle or brush over bread with a pastry brush. Sprinkle bread with Parmesan cheese. Wrap bread completely in foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap the bread and bake 10 more minutes, or until cheese is melted and pepperoni is a little crispy.