Mug Brownies

I have a major sweet tooth. In fact, my whole family does! But sometimes I am in the mood for a little sweet treat. When I found this recipe I knew this would be perfect for my sweet tooth! I have tried other recipes but this one is far better than the others. You can make a serving of brownies all with 6 ingredients, a mug, and a microwave!

Ingredients:

• 4 tbs of flour
• 4 1/2 tbs of sugar
• 2 tbs of coco powder
• a pinch of salt
• 2 tbs of oil 
• 2tbs of water

Instructions:

Mix all dry ingredients together in your mug.

Add the water and oil. This should make the mixture very thick, almost hard to stir.

Pop mug into the microwave for 1 minute and 10 seconds.

Take out and let it cool. Add whipped cream or ice cream for an extra treat!

Enjoy!

My dad is glad I made two for this blog post!

Homemade Oreos

Oreos have always been my favorite cookie to eat! So when I found this recipe I had to try it! This is a sweet cookie. A good, but very sweet cookie. This cookie is not a direct replica of an Oreo but, it tastes very similar!

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups (155 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (45 grams, but cocoa weights can vary greatly) unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks or 140 grams) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 55 grams) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup (50 grams) vegetable shortening
2 cups (240 grams) sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract, too much vanilla will cause the filling to not taste like the classic flavor of the Oreo filling

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F
2. With an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
   
3. Take a teaspoon amount of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. 
   
4. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
   

1. To make the filling, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. 
   
2. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy. 
   
3. To assemble the cookies, use a knife to spread the cream on the cookies. Then place a cookie of similar size on top of the iced cookie.
   

Enjoy!

Cake Decorating: Spring Icing Flowers

Spring has sprung! To celebrate this time, I decided to do something a little different. I made a short video on two simple spring flowers to decorate cake/cupcakes, or in my case, graham crackers! You may be wondering why graham crackers? Well, in my family, if we have left over frosting, we put it on toast or graham crackers and it is absolutely delicious!

Back to the flowers, I made a simple rose and forget-me-nots. The tips can obviously vary in size, however, I used Magic Tip 31 (the shorter one) for the rose. For the forget-me-nots, I used Magic Tip 15 (the taller one).

The video is below:

Enjoy!

Lemon Cookies

These cookies are a family favorite in my family! My dad has entered these lemon cookies into our county fair 3 years in a row and has won 1st place every time! Our family especially loves this cookie because we use the lemons from our meyer lemon tree which we say makes them taste even better! with all that said lets make some cookies!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer on high speed until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients except flour until well blended.

On low speed, beat in flour just until blended. Flour WILL get everywhere as you can see on the mixer.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Optional step is to sprinkle cookies with sugar or almonds.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet 1 minute before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Recipe from Allrecipes.com 
Original media

Blog review

I have recently been looking at other baking blogs for inspiration for my blog's layout, style etc. I came across this great blog called Butter Baking. Natasha is a very talented pastry chef with amazing (and delicious) recipes!

Her blog is filled with descriptive posts, amazing pictures, and so much personality! Natasha's love for baking really shows throughout her blog. As a reader, her posts are appealing and interesting (to people who like to bake at least). Her artistic pictures are great for attracting visual people like myself.

Butter Baking's conversion page inspired me to create my own conversion page. My conversion page includes calculators that convert weight, liquid (volume), and temperature. You can simply type in one unit and it converts into desired conversion. Natasha's conversion chart is a list. Don’t get me wrong, it is still very helpful.

The desserts she creates are absolutely beautiful! She really takes into consideration the looks and the garnishes on a dish. As the saying goes "you eat with your eyes",  Natasha's blog really expresses that saying by making each picture of the dessert so appetizing.

Make sure to check out all her great recipes, amazing pictures, and bubbly personality!
Enjoy!

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

As the New Year rolls in, so do the resolutions, many of which include healthy eating. This delicious cookie is gluten free, dairy free, and low calorie. Eating 2 cookies gives you the equivalent amount of protein as 1 egg! If you are someone who doesn't always stick to your planned resolutions (myself included) then these are the cookies for you! These cookies are so good you will want to make them all the time! 

Ingredients

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar *if using chocolate chips use 1/3 or 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pinch coarse sea salt
• optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, etc.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F and place racks in the upper and lower third of the open

In a medium bowl, mix the peanut butter, sugar, egg, salt, and vanilla until well combined.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of mixture about 1 inch apart onto an ungreased baking sheet.

Flatten mounds with the prongs on a fork into a criss-cross design

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until edges are golden. Halfway through baking, switch position of pans 

Enjoy!

Concise version

Ingredients

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar *if using chocolate chips use 1/3 or 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pinch coarse sea salt
• optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, etc.

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and place racks in the upper and lower third of the open
2. In a medium bowl, mix the peanut butter, sugar, egg, salt, and vanilla until well combined.
3. Spoon 1 tablespoon of mixture about 1 inch apart onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Flatten mounds with the prongs on a fork into a criss-cross design
5. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until edges are golden. Halfway through baking, switch position of pans