Birthday Cookie “Cake”

I made my sweet man a birthday cookie cake for his 22nd birthday cake (per his request). It was my first time ever making something like this… took it out of the oven when it was lightly golden brown around the edges… flipped it out of the pan and it wasn’t done in the middle! YIKES!!! So, i gently flipped it into the  pan and returned it to the oven for a few more minutes. Thank goodness that the second time i flipped it out it was done all the way. He loves the M&M cookies that i make… and with my fluffy vanilla butter cream on top of it he lovvved it!

I used a spoon to spread the cookie dough out on the Wilton Giant Cookie Pan it took almost an entire batch of my Aunt Karen’s Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies.  It looked really pretty even without the icing on it! But, I know my man… He would definitely want lots of icing on top!

 

Happy Baking!

-B

Aunt Karen’s Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

As promised I am sharing one of my favorite family recipes. I don’t know how many times or for how many events i have made these for… However, they are always a hit. People LOVE them!!

 

Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Heat oven to 375*

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 Cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

12oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and shortening. Gradually add sugars and beat until fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to wet ingredients, beat well.

Add in chocolate chips. Drop in 1/4 cup (I drop mine by a heaping teaspoon-–like the one you eat with.)

Bake at 375* for 10-12 minutes, keep a close eye on them! They get dark extremely quickly.  Take them out of the oven when golden brown around the outside.

Time-saving tip: place parchment paper on your pans before cooking. It is easy to remove them from the pan, just pull the paper gently off the pan AND it saves them from sticking to any of your pans.

Happy Baking!

-B

Pumpkin Cheesecake (The Taste of Fall??)

I work in a kitchen… Sometimes it is not delightful. However, there are times that are quite delightful. Such as getting to experiment with new recipes. One of those recipes this week was pumpkin cheesecake (yummmmmm). It started as my really simple cheesecake recipe with only 5; yeah, you see that correctly… FIVE ingredients! The players in this cheesecake game are cream cheese, eggs, sugar, vanilla and sour cream. It makes a wonderful cheesecake. But i wanted to make something that was more with the changing of the seasons, people crave that pumpkin (everything) in the fall — i myself am guilty as well. So i added in some pumpkin in place of the sour cream and then added nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves for a little more of an autumn tone.

To start off i mixed up the sugar and the cream cheese until well combined and smooth. I then scraped down the sides of the bowl. Add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then you add in the pumpkin and spices.

 

 

I then poured it into my pie pans already prepped with a graham cracker crust. Bake at 325 for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. They turn out like this. Beautiful, slightly orange and the smell is killer. If you made this any time this fall for guest they would be in love the moment they stepped through the door and smelled it. If you serve it with a little cinnamon whipped cream pipped on top it would be a delicate, sweet and cute dessert for any fall occasion

     

 

 

 

 

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

2 Lb cream cheese (softened)

1 1/2 cup sugar

4 large eggs (at room temperature)

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

Cream together cream cheese and sugar. Scrape sides of the bowl.

Add in eggs, one at a time, beating until completely incorporated after each addition. Scrape sides of the bowl.

Add in Pumpkin and remaining ingredients. Mix well.

Pour into prepared pans (I prefer to make my own graham crusts and use disposable pie pans).

Bake at 325 F for 45m-1 Hour until slightly firm when touched. Allow to cool completely before serving, keep refrigerated. 

 

*makes about 3 Pies.

 

first post in a long time… M&M cookie batter…. yummm

So i haven’t posted since the beginning of the summer. But for a very good reason… not because of work. But because I had a bad car accident. It damaged the tendons in my hand and middle and index fingers and I had to have surgery to repair them and the skin. I was avoiding someone and went off the road, lost traction, rolled my vehicle onto its drivers side, slid about 15 yards and flipped onto the roof before being stopped by two massive trees (and taking out a smaller one) and bouncing back down onto the drivers side of the vehicle. It is truly a miracle that I was not hurt any further and that God has healed me! It has been about 9 weeks since my surgery and I am finally able to use my hand completely again. I am almost done with physical therapy too, which means that I get to bake and post on here more often rather than doing hand exercises! I have a few baking projects coming up that i am excited about. I am going to be making a cookie “cake” for my sweet boyfriends birthday and I am also working on a couple of recipes to add to my personal collection. Of course i will share it with you all though 😉

The only thing that i have baked was some M&M’s cookies that are mine and my boyfriend’s favorite (to thank him for coming car shopping with me on a tight schedule). I only have a picture of the scrumptious batter to show you for now… I will share the recipe for these delicious little babies very soon!

 

MMMMMMmmmmmm

-B