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Recipe – Samoa – Girls Scout cookie

February 10, 2013 in recipes

Its that time of year again, when little girls trap you at the exit of the markets, at the doorstep of your house, and even at your work.  With their big smiley face they ask you to buy boxes of cookies and you end up buying multiple boxes… from every girl scout girl you see…ok maybe not that bad.  Its the time of year when we can stock up on our favorite Girls Scout Cookies.  Some boxes are eaten immediately, and others get comfortable in the freezer.  My favorite by far has to be the Samoas (Caramel Delights)..[who decided to change the name of these cookies anyways]? Last Saturday, I woke up with a craving for some caramel/coconut/chocolate perfections.  Not wanting to drive out to a market in search for some GS girls selling them, I decided to bake some of my own (or at least something similar).  They definitely taste healthier and are less sweet when compared to the Samoas.  They’re a bit time consuming and can get a little messy, but they’re definitely worth it.

Side note: I thought I had all the ingredients at home, however I ended up asking my brother to go to the market for me because I was missing the main ingredient [coconut flakes]…and he came back with boxes of Samoas… -__-

ingredients:
-1 cup soften butter
-2/3 cup white sugar
-1/2 tspn vanilla extract (or almond extract)
-2 cups all purpose flour

-toasted coconut flakes (about 6oz) can use more based on how much coconut you want on your cookies
-12oz caramel balls (i found these at the market, they’re easier for
-2 tbsn milk (or more)
-pinch of salt
-melted chocolate

directions:
-preheat the oven to 350F
-in a mixing bowl, mix together butter and white sugar until smooth
-add vanilla extract and flour and mix until mixture combines into a ball
-scoop cookie dough onto baking pan and flatten top 1/4in  in height
-bake for 8-10 mins (until lightly brown)
- melt caramel and milk in a small sauce pan (add more milk for thinner consistency) over med heat. (turn off once ready)
-mix in salt and toasted coconut flakes
-spoon caramel mixture on top of each cookie
-drizzle melted chocolate on top

here’s another dessert with some thin mints i bought.  Made mini ice cream sandwiches, wrapped them individually and placed them in the freezer. Entire box of Thin Mints yields 16 sandwiches.

 

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Recipe: Pumpkin cupcake with pumpkin pie filling

November 25, 2012 in recipes

Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving weekend!  Mine was filled with great company and great food.
This thanksgiving weekend, I baked a pumpkin cupcake

ingredients:
-2 cups granulated sugar
-1 1/4 cups canola oil
-1 tspn vanilla extract
-2 cups canned pumpkin
-4 eggs
-2 cups all purpose flour
-3 tspn baking powder
-2 tspn baking soda
-1/4 tspn salt

 

-2 tspn pumpkin spice mix
-1/2 tspn cinnamon powder

frosting ingredients:
-1/4 cup of butter (room temp)
-8oz cream cheese
-1lbs of powdered sugar
-1/2 tspn vanilla extract
-1/4 tspn salt

 

 

directions:

-preheat oven to 350F
-on stove top, heat the canned pumpkin until warm , set aside
-mix sugar and oil in a big bowl, add the pumpkin

-mix in vanilla extract and eggs (one at a time)
-mix in the dry ingredients until well mixed
-pour mixture into cupcake molds and bake for 15 mins

-while cupcakes are baking, make the frosting:
-whisk butter and cream cheese until smooth
-add sifted powdered sugar and whisk
-add vanilla and salt and mix until smooth

- once cupcake are cool, in a pastry bag, fill with pumpkin pie filling (i cheated a little and used the pumpkin pie filling from a store bought pie.)
- place tip in the center of the cupcake and pipe pie filling into the cupcake
- pipe the top with desired frosting (i like pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting)
happy holidays~

p.s. I found a Twinkies recipe online today, I plan on baking them this weekend. Will keep you posted.

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recipe: mini apple pies

October 23, 2012 in recipes

side note: Pitch Perfect was a great movie!

Happy Birthday to Me!! Reflection: It’s been an interesting year – filled with lots of changes (most good, some bad), a lot of growth, new passions, and new visions.  I’m very excited to see what the next year has is store for me. This years journey starts as I prepare to open shop (online) soon.  There’s quite a bit of bumps on the road but I do hope and pray that it’ll be an adventurous ride.  In the midst of much change, I do still plan on baking and sharing my adventure here.

So as my birth day comes to an end, I will share with you my all time favorite pie recipe: drum roll please :  APPLE PIE.  The sweet and tart combo brings back childhood memories and who can argue when its topped off with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream?? yumm~~ Even the ones at McDonald’s are pretty tasty (or at least the memory of them)- can you even beat 2 pies for one dollar?  Here’s a simple, almost fool proof, recipe for you all.

 

Ingredients:
-rolled out pastry dough (in the fridge section of the market, comes with 2 rounds)
-1/4 cup unsalted butter
-1 1/2 tbsn all purpose flour
-1/8 cup water
-1/8 cup white sugar
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-3 granny smith apples – peeled, cored, and cubed into little cubes
-1/4 tspn salt
-1/2 tspn pumpkin pie spice mix
-1/2 tspn vanilla extract

 

Directions:
-preheat the oven to 350F
-in a small sauce pan, melt the butter and mix the flour and combine. add water, white and brown sugar. once mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to a med-low and allow for mixture to reduce and thicken [house will be filled with the smell of brown butter and sugar]
-peel, core, cube all 3 granny apples and place in a bowl
-pour the butter mixture on top of the cubed apples and mix well.
-add the remaining ingredients :salt, spice mix, vanilla: and mix. set to the side
- on a floured board, roll out dough
-with a circle cookie cutter, cut out circles [i'm not sure what size, but i did use one that was bigger than the circumference of the top of the mini cupcake pan]


-with your fingers, thin out the sides a bit more before molding it into your mini cupcake pan [ if you're able to make it slightly bigger than the height of the pan, it'll be easier for pies to come out of the pan] [with the remaining pie crust, roll back together to make more pie shells]- place a spoonful of apple mixture into each pie shell [try not to be shady with the amount, if you like a lot of apple, maybe add one more apple to the recipe]

-with the second pie dough – roll the dough out and cut into thin strips.  weave the pie dough. cut with a circle cookie cutter [actual size of the circumference of the top of the mini cupcake pan] cut out the weaves and gently place on top of each pie. with your fingers, pinch sides with the top to ensure they mold together.
-butter the top of each pie
-bake for 20-30mins [depending on how brown you want your crust], slightly cool, and enjoy~

last photo credit: handmade by sara kim

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recipe: mini pumpkin creme brulee

October 15, 2012 in recipes

side note: the weather was amazing the past couple days…too bad its jumping back into the 90′s tomorrow -__-

The first flavor I think of when it comes to the fall is Pumpkin.  With the spirit of fall, I wanted to share a simple creme brulee recipe with the star ingredient PUMPKIN.

Its a perfect blend of cream and pumpkin, a soft custard, definitely better for my liking than a pumpkin pie. Its a pretty friendly recipe so I hope you enjoy.~

ingredients:
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tspn pumpkin pie spice mix
- 1/4 tspn salt
- 1/2 can of pumpkin puree (about 7.5 oz)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tspn vanilla extract
- granulated sugar and torch for top layer

 

directions:
-preheat oven to 325F
- In a metal bowl, whisk  the egg yolks until light in color
- add  brown sugar, spice mix, salt, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract and mix until well mixed
- heat heavy cream over stove top until hot – I took it off the heat right before it started boiling
-while whisking the puree mixture, slowly incorporate the heavy cream
- pour mixture into  paper souffle cups (I used 1 oz cups – I used one layer but double layered it after it came out of the oven) about 3/4 of the way full [you can also put them in ramekins and fill them to the top - baking time will be longer ~30-35mins]
-place cups on top of a baking tray and back for~20-25 mins [until custard sets]
-place in refrigerator to cool
-when ready to serve, sprinkle granulated sugar on top and using a torch create a crust [my favorite part]

 

 

 

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Caramel Apple Cider Cookies

October 14, 2012 in recipes

side notes: Its still disgustingly hot here in Cali, but at least the nights are cooling down.  Its almost time for me to stock up on my core ingredients for baking – flour, sugar, eggs, and butter.

Happy OCTOBER!! Its by far one of my favorite months of the year. Why you ask? … Its my birthday month!! Not only that, the weather starts to cool down allowing you to put on layers and even wear boots (my favorite).  I forgot to mention, it’s also my MOTHERS birthday today ^^.

To Celebrate, here’s a prefect recipe (to take to someones birthday, or even just to eat during this lovely time of the year – FALL.  It’ll fill your kitchen with the smell of apple cider – one of my favorite fall drinks.  I found the recipe fromScrambled Henfruit so I’ll share it with you (edited version).  Its a simple recipe (fool proof really) so I hope you enjoy. 

Ingredients
1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar [original recipe didnt have this, they just used 1 cup of granulated sugar.  brown sugar = chewier cookies ]
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix – all 10 packets (should be located with the teas and hot chocolates)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups all purpose flour
1 bag Kraft Caramel – (my market carried caramel balls which is perfect for this recipe) 

Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line your cookie trays with parchment paper
- Whisk butter, sugars, salt, apple cider instant mix until smooth
- Slowly incorporate the eggs and vanilla extract
- Mix in the remaining dry items [flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon] into the butter mixture
- Fold in the caramel balls and refrigerate for 30 mins – allows for easy scooping
- Spoon even rounds onto parchment paper [I use a 2tsp spoon] and bake for 8 mins – I like taking my cookies out just shy of being completely baked.  Allowing it to finish baking on the tray out of the oven helps avoid crunchy cookies.

Above is the picture of the Caramel Balls.  They’re must softer than the caramel squares AND unlike the squares, they’re not individually wrapped (what a time saver)!!

Stay tuned for more fall time favorites!
Excited for my house to be filled with the scent of crisp cold air, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and apple cider.  Happy Fall~

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