andes™ mint chocolate cookies

i made these cookies especially for my brother as andes mint chocolates are his fav. earlier today, i was at target with my niece (said brother's daughter) and saw them so i bought them. i've also recently inherited a lot of baking supplies and decided that i would take advantage of the new refreshed supply. this recipe comes from the back of the andes mint baking chips bag with some alterations. i won't retype the recipe but i will describe my changes which i must admit come from america's test kitchen. specifically the episode on the perfect chocolate chip cookie which i watched with my sister on saturday. i noticed that the recipe called for more brown sugar than white sugar. this was the main reason i decided to go with this recipe rather than the one i usually use.

what i learned from america's test kitchen:

despite the recipe calling for "softened" butter, i melted it. well, ¾ of the butter was melted and then mixed with the rest of the butter. this does two things. it cools the melted butter and melts the remaining ¼. america's test kitchen actually melts the butter in a non-stick pan and browns it to bring out the nuttiness. i didn't do this, however.

the melted butter (to mix before the rest of the ingredients) makes the cookie crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. after the butter and sugars are "creamed," let the mixture sit to allow the sugars to dissolve. when baked, this causes the sugars to caramelize rather than melt. i notice that the cookie is not as flat as the usual recipe i use. i guess i will have to test this out which means... more cookies.

the recipe calls for 2 2/3 cups of flour. i put in 2/3 cup of whole wheat flour to make it a little healthier which i'm sure gets canceled out anyway. my niece who was my guinea pig didn't notice, at all.

coconutella rice krispy treats

i decided to call these coconutella rice krispy treats (made with nutella, coconut and topped with toasted coconut). see recipe below.

for those who tested them out for me, thanks! these are the final product and what i took to the party. :)

recipe:
3 tablespoons butter
10 oz bag of marshmallows
1/2 cup nutella
1/2 cup coconut
6 cups of rice krispies

topping:
1/2 cup coconut (spread out on a baking sheet and bake for 5-10 mins at 250F, keep an eye on this or it will burn!)

instructions:
melt butter on low heat, add marshmallows and melt
remove from heat, add nutella, then add coconut (this must be done quickly) and add 6 cups of rice krispies

butter a 9x13 inch pan and spread rice krispies mixture. top with toasted coconut and refrigerate.

and enjoy!

warning: don't click on this image...

... or, you'll get lost in peanut butter cookieland.

tiramisu

i've made tiramisu since 1998, when i learned how to make it on a trip to europe in milano, italy. my friend elena showed us how to make it for this traditional italian dinner we had back in august of 1998.

anyway, it evolved into this tiramisu cake (this one has baileys in it instead of the usual kahlua i put in it, though it wouldn't look any different). next time, i'll take a picture of a slice...

come a little closer

i'm still working on my frosting decoration skills. these are mini chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. and to top off, are actual mini reese's peanut butter cups. they are super adorable. they don't taste that bad either. anyone want some?

anyone want some freshly made sweet bread?

this amish friendship bread (with dried cranberries) took 10 days to make. this came out of the oven just 10 minutes ago.
does it look yummy?

oodles and oodles of cupcakes

chocolate peanut butter, vanilla coconut w/ marsh-mallow cream cheese frosting, and strawberry cupcakes... oh my!

i made over 100 of these, each. totaling approx 350, for my niece & nephew's birthday party today. i'm cupcake'd out!

pumpkin goodness

since the original recipe resulted in a lack of pumpkin flavor, i decided to double the amount of pumpkin and decrease the sour cream by a quarter of a cup to keep the moistness. doesn't it look delicious?

last meal

my last meal before my 10-day diet. i had two generous helpings of this spicy mac & cheese with tomatoes. it was delicious! my sister made it specially for me. she also made it for my birthday last year.

it's been 4 days on this damn diet and i soooo want a bite of this mac & cheese... and ice cream would be nice too. :(

i am officially starvin' marvin.

french vanilla coconut cupcakes w/ marshmallow buttercream frosting

lisa and i made these cupcakes with french vanilla cake mix, 1 ½ cups of shredded coconut, and coconut pudding mix. the frosting is marshmallow buttercream with a piece of toasted coconut marshmallow and sprinkling on the top. trust me, it's much better tasting than it looks.

tweaked

after comments from my sister and my friend lou about the picture below, i decided to do some photoshopping (heehee, another form of shopping i enjoy!). they don't look like chocolate cupcakes anymore, right?

adding baking to the mix

most of my readers know (all 5 of you) that i do some baking from time to time. actually, i bake once a week. anyway, my sister suggested that i start taking pictures of the baked goods and post them. so, these delightful strawberry cupcakes (thanks to kelly for the recipe!) are the first to display. they are a really pretty pink color. not sure that my camera phone does it justice. click on the image for a closer look. what do you think? do they look good?