| MAKING MEMORIES…ONE RECIPE AT A TIME

Candy Corn Slice and Bake Cookies

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset
When my kids were little and accompanying me on grocery store errands, they would beg me for the Pillsbury slice and bake cookies every time we went down the refrigerated grocery isle. You know the kind, they have a printed picture down the center of a pre-packaged cookie dough log. Every holiday has a different design. Easter bunnies, snowmen, shamrocks, you name it…cookies for every season. Now, if you know anything about me, it is that I believe in butter…I joke that this is a religious belief, but I do in fact LOVE real butter. It makes everything taste better. If I am going to eat something that will go straight to my thighs, it will only be the best, highest quality ingredients, no hydrogenated oils for this girl. So these cute little logs of cookie dough don’t quite meet my standard for something I am willing to waste my calories on. I do, however, see the appeal. They are colorful, festive and fun to make. Not to mention the ease and convenience of having cookie dough ready in your fridge at any given time.

What did people do before the good old Pillsbury cookie dough log? I remember my grandmother making her own. She called them icebox cookies. Cookie dough shaped, put in the fridge, ready to slice and bake at a moment’s notice. Between the 1920s and 1930s the invention of the icebox made these convenient cookies popular and gave them their name. Now, we may have eliminated the need for Ice with the invention of the refrigerator, but that certainly did not eliminate the need for chilled, ready to bake cookies. Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

A couple of years ago, I had a neighbor leave the cutest little candy corn butter cookies at my door. When I saw the bright colors perfectly shaped, I was convinced that these would make the perfect icebox cookies. I love candy corn everything. From September through November I bake and decorate everything with these adorable little tri-colored candies in mind. Getting ready for a Halloween party this week I made a batch of spritz cookie dough to make festive holiday cookies. When I went to load the dough into the cookie press, I quickly learned that my trigger was broken and I would be unable to press and shape the cookies. I had already mixed a huge triple batch of almond paste spritz cookie dough and I was unwilling to let that goodness go to waste. Spritz cookie dough is the perfect dough for a slice and bake icebox cookie so I decided to seize this opportunity and attempt candy corn icebox cookies.

I divided my dough into thirds, colored one-third yellow, one-third orange and left the other third white. I then layered the colored cookie dough in a parchment-lined brownie pan. I covered the entire pan and refrigerated it until cold and hard. The beauty of real butter is it chills perfectly hard for these cookie slabs and slices without losing shape. Once cold I removed the cookie dough and cut into rows. I then cut the rows into triangles and placed the cookies on a parchment-lined cookie sheets. These little cookies cooked up to perfection! The best part is they taste as good as they look. These cookies would be the perfect addition to any thanksgiving buffet…if you can resist the urge to eat them straight out of the oven!!!

Continue reading →

Pumpkin Buttercream Frosting

Continue reading →

Pumpkin Spice Macarons

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

am going to start a 12 step program for everyone who is as addicted to macarons as I am. Moderation just isn’t part of my vocabulary when it comes to these crunchy yet chewy bites of perfection. I am not going to lie macarons can be tricky…but only until you master a recipe. Once you find the right recipe and technique, the fun begins. Fun because now you can start playing with flavors and fillings. So when the girls and I finally found the secret to macarons…psst it’s Italian merengue, we knew it was time to get creative. The hard thing with macarons is balancing the science behind the cookie with changing the flavor. Changing the flavor means adding ingredients which can very easily change the integrity of the cookie. If every season has a flavor… fall is pumpkin! The chill in the air means fuzzy socks and pumpkin-flavored Processed with VSCO with a6 preset everything. When my girls suggested making pumpkin macarons, I knew they were on to something. The hard part would be to add pumpkin without ruining the structure of the airy cookie. There is no way to add the water content in pumpkin puree to the macaron without breaking down the integrity of the meringue. We decided to add pumpkin pie spice to the cookie portion and the pumpkin puree to the buttercream filling. The moisture of the macaron filling is what helps change the texture of the cookie and create the chewy, nougaty inside of the cookie. This is why it is best to let your cookies sit for 24 hours after baking and filling before serving. The pumpkin buttercream actually aides in this process and creates a perfectly chewy center. So what seemed like an unlikely pairing actually became a symbiotic cookie relationship. Who needs pumpkin pie, when Thanksgiving dinner can now be finished with a macaron!

Continue reading →

Candy Corn Macarons

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

We really get into Halloween at our house. While most people give out candy, we don’t stop there. We set up hot chocolate, soups, and of course plenty of baked goods in our driveway. Baking enough for the neighborhood is quite an undertaking, so I asked the girls to start baking and freezing early to ensure we wouldn’t run out Halloween night.

A couple nights ago I came home late from work. I opened my front door and instantly the most amazing smell came out. This is a smell I knew well…this was the smell of french macarons baking in my kitchen. For those of you who know me, you know my favorite treat of all time is french macarons. I go to Disneyland, not for the rides, but to do a tour of the parks french macaron locations.

I entered the kitchen where Maddie and Kennedy were busy at work. Maddie was weighing ingredients and Kennedy was piping the perfect little cookies. I went to grab an apron and asked Kennedy if she wanted me to pipe the circles. She instantly responded, “nope mom, I’ve got it”. My first instinct was to be offended that they didn’t want my help. This is the cookie I introduced them to…these little gems are my thing! Then as quickly as the thought came, I was overwhelmed with pride. My 17-year-old is making Italian meringue and using an infrared thermometer to check she has accurately reached soft ball stage, and my 15-year-old is piping perfect circles. I was no longer offended…I was as proud as I could possibly be. The cookie that most adults fear and shy away from, my girls make like rock stars!!!

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

The thought then came to me. I would give them no help at all, but rather wait, see what they create and blog about it. What better way to calm people’s fears about making macarons, than to see that the recipe we have been working on the last couple of years is so foolproof that my girls can make it flawlessly without help.

The finished product was so adorable that I actually hated to eat a few…I did of course…but I felt bad digesting such perfection. So, I am sharing this recipe and some photos I took to brag a little as a proud momma, but mostly to let everyone who has ever wanted to make french macaron see that they should not be intimidated. These are just as fun and amazing to bake as they are to eat. And once you learn to bake them yourself you can afford to eat them by the dozen. Because let’s be honest these little cookies are seriously overpriced at the bakery!!!

Continue reading →

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

love the flavor of devil’s food cake! The chocolate is so deep and rich…it really has a flavor all its own. In a boxed cake mix however the deep flavor can be lost in a very airy cake texture. I feel like the texture of devil’s food cake needs to be denser in order to fully embody the rich chocolate flavor of the cake. Those of you who have tried my recipes know that I firmly believe there is a place in almost any recipe for sour cream and this recipe is no exception. By adding sour cream to devils food cupcakes, you create a moist dense texture that holds up to any frosting it accompanies. I like these cupcakes frosted with our classic buttercream, however, these little cupcakes are so good they are actually equally delicious left unfrosted.

Continue reading →

Devils Food Cupcakes

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Continue reading →

Weekly Giveaway

Continue reading →

Nutella Buttercream

his is truly the perfect Nutella buttercream…and the easiest recipe you will ever make! It is so simple, you might just make it to eat by the spoonful. We created this buttercream for our brownies, but it has ended up topping just about every dessert to come out of our kitchen at one time or another. After all, what doesn’t Nutella make better?

Continue reading →

The Perfect Brownie

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

love to bake, so I tend to fall into the category of people who think everything should be made from scratch. That being said, I have to admit…there are times I like to doctor a mix. Brownies are NOT one of those times. For those of you who have only ever eaten box mix brownies, Please, Please, try these brownies. In the competition of box versus scratch….there is simply no comparison. You haven’t tasted a brownie until you have made one from scratch. Boxed brownies tend to become too oily or grainy and simply don’t have the depth of flavor created in the homemade version. I understand why many people have turned to the box mix. We are busy people, living way too busy lives. Many brownie recipes require melting chocolate assimilating it into the wet ingredients and then incorporating your wet and dry ingredients together. Other recipes require scalding milk and cooking the wet ingredients before incorporating the dry ingredients. All of these steps can be time-consuming and tedious. This recipe originated with melting chocolate. When I had only one child that recipe seemed to work out just fine. But I soon found myself with four children, a job and a messy house, none of which was going to wait while I melted chocolate. I simplified my brownie recipe into a one-bowl wonder. So, the next time you go to grab that convenient box…remember these brownies are just as quick with a flavor that will leave you wondering why you ever settled for a mix in the first place. These brownies are very versatile and hold up well when cut into squares. To frost, or not to frost…that is the question. While this is a very worthy debate, I am going to include the frosting recipe we created just for these brownies. This Nutella frosting is not overly sweet and has salty accents that perfectly compliment the rich chocolate flavor. Be sure to have a tall glass of cold milk on hand when these are finished!!!

Continue reading →

Caramel Apple Dip

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset
S
ometimes in baking, as in life, our biggest mistakes open the door to our greatest accomplishments. This recipe is proof we can turn our blunders into the most delicious lessons. Every Christmas we make candy for family and friends. Homemade caramel is always one of the most popular items in the box of treats. The trick with caramel is cooking the mixture to softball stage without overcooking and creating hard caramels. One year as the caramels were cooling I quickly realized the mixture was getting way too firm. Rather than paying for the dental work of all of our friends, I decided to scrap the batch. As I went to throw it out I noticed the large bowl of apples on my kitchen table. I decided I would make a dip with the caramel. This would appease my frugal inner self and entice the kids to eat the bowl of apples they had been ignoring all week during our candy making. I added cream cheese and sour cream to the still warm caramel and the result was so good it is hard to describe. This dip is so creamy and buttery it is addictive. We serve trays of sliced green apples with this caramel at almost every party and event held at our house. This dip has gone from the backup plan for hard caramels to a prized recipe requested all year long. Try this recipe…you won’t be disappointed. Here is hoping that all of our kitchen fails, turn into the sweetest of mistakes!