Sunday, September 16, 2012

"Boyfriend" Cookies

A friend from my college Japanese class shared this recipe with me recently, and I was like, "OMG, I must make this." They're called Boyfriend Cookies. Apparently they're supposed to help you obtain or keep a boyfriend, or perhaps serve as a substitute. ;) When you see the list of ingredients, you'll understand why this is the most ridiculous cookie recipe I think I've ever made. I did change a couple of small things from the original recipe, however.

Here's what you need:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 small (3.4 oz.) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
~Here's where it gets crazy...~
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (11 oz.) package milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips*
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup M&Ms® milk chocolate candy (I used miniature, but regular size works too)
1/2 cup Reese's Pieces® candy (I used regular size, but miniature works too; you can find mini Reese's Pieces® with the chocolate chips in the baking aisle)

*The original recipe calls for 1 cup milk chocolate chips and 1/2 cup peanut butter chips, but I opted to use a bag of mixed milk chocolate and peanut butter chips to save money. Originally I was going to use 1 1/2 cups of this mixture, but there was so little left after measuring that I went ahead and used the whole bag.

Are you ready for this? You sure? All right then. Preheat the oven to 375ᵒF and prepare to have your mind blown.

Start out by creaming together the softened butter and both the brown and white sugars.


Once the butter and sugars are all nice and combined, add the instant vanilla pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla, and mix it up some more. While it's mixing, combine the flour and baking soda in a separate bowl. Once the eggs, pudding mix, and vanilla are well-incorporated, start adding the flour mixture a little at a time. This forms a pretty heavy dough.


Now is the fun part. Add all of those different chocolate chips and candies and mix it up on low speed, just until everything is evenly distributed.


Holy moly, right? When I lifted the mixer head, it plopped back down on its own from the weight of the dough stuck on the paddle. This is some serious stuff. Now to lay down some cookies! I like to use a small ice cream scoop (probably equivalent to about a tablespoon); I think I got about 6 or 7 dozen small cookies total.


Usually I would use parchment paper on the cookie sheets, but I was out. ~.~ That's okay, though, because the pans don't require greasing. Just be sure to scrape/wipe off any bits of cookie in between batches. Bake at 375ᵒF for 10-12 minutes.


Ohhhhhh baby... Let the cookies sit for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely (or you can eat them warm with a glass of cold milk, which is definitely recommended). Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container, you know, if you have any left to store.


Who needs a boyfriend when you have cookies, right? (But really, I love you and miss you, Paul! <3 It's just too bad that you don't like chocolate, sweetheart.)

With love, your cupcake,

~Jesia <3

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Mom's Birthday Pie

I wasn't sure what else to call this... I guess I could've just called it "Freezer Caramel Drizzle Pie" like the original recipe does, but I don't think that name really captures the essence of this pie. I mean, there's a lot more going on here than caramel and a freezer. There's also toasted coconut and pecans, and cream cheese blended with sweetened condensed milk and whipped topping. How do you express all of that in the form of a recipe title?

Anywho, my mom found this recipe and decided that she wanted this frozen treat for her birthday instead of a traditional birthday cake. Just beware, this recipe does take advanced preparation, as you must let a large tub of whipped topping thaw in the fridge for a few hours, and once the pies are made they have to sit in the freezer overnight.

Here's what you'll need -- no oven required!

2 9-inch prepared graham cracker crusts
6 tablespoons butter
1 (7 oz.) package shredded or flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 (16 oz.) tub frozen whipped topping, thawed*
1 (12 oz.) jar caramel sauce

*The tub should tell you how to properly thaw the frozen whipped topping. The package I had said to let it sit in the fridge for 6 hours.

First you'll want to prepare the topping. Get out a nice big skillet and heat it up to medium, melting the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the coconut and chopped pecans and make sure it all gets a nice coating of butter. You'll want to keep the mixture moving at regular intervals to avoid burning it, as you just want it to get nice and lightly toasted. This will take about 5 minutes. Once it's done, you'll want to turn off the heat and set it aside for later.


Next you'll want to soften the cream cheese. I usually throw it in a microwavable bowl and microwave it for about 30 seconds; alternatively, you could let it soften by letting it sit on the counter at room temperature for a while. Either way, you'll want to combine the softened cream cheese and your can of sweetened condensed milk in a large mixing bowl and get to mixing. I turned the mixer up to probably medium or so, letting the ingredients get nice and whipped together so that there weren't any chunks of cream cheese.


Next up, you'll need a big rubber spatula to fold in the entire 16-ounce tub of thawed whipped topping. This really adds quite a bit of volume to the pie mixture. I kept folding and mixing gently until the mixture was nice and uniform.


Now to assemble! Pull out those pie crusts and add about 1/4 of the cream cheese and whipped topping mixture to each. Then top each with a layer of gooey delicious caramel sauce (yum!). The recipe says to drizzle, but I pretty well covered the first layer of the cream cheese mixture on both pies, using the back of a spoon to spread it out a bit. Then you'll want to repeat the layers with the remaining cream cheese mixture and caramel sauce. (I'll admit, the first layer of caramel sauce was a little heavy and I had very little of it left for the second layer of caramel, but I think it turned out fine anyway.)


It's looking pretty sweet, right? But we're not done just yet. Remember that toasty coconut and pecan topping we made earlier? Spread half of it on top of each pie.


Now it's like "whooooooooa." You might get a cavity just looking at it. Anyway, now it's time for the painful part of the process. You must let the pies sit in the freezer overnight. Horrible, isn't it? But according to my mom, it's worth the wait. Actually, she says it's the best pie she's ever had, and possibly the best dessert she's ever eaten.


I'm glad you liked it so much, Mom. Happy birthday! I love you. <3

Your Cupcake,

~Jesia <3

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Super Simple Crackle Cookies

The truth is, I like to refer to these cookies as "cocaine cookies," because they're covered in powdered sugar. But I think calling them "crackle cookies" sounds a little... nicer, I guess? Anyway, this is a recipe that I remember learning while in a cooking class in high school. It only involves four simple ingredients. The best part? You can make these sweet, chewy cookies any flavor you want just by using different flavors of cake mix.

Speaking of cake mix... I've just discovered a disturbing and apparently recent trend in the cake mix industry. When I went to the store to buy my cake mix, the first thing I noticed was that the particular brand I usually get had raised in price by 20 cents. While perturbed, I kind of shrugged it off. But suddenly I noticed something else that was different -- instead of the usual (and I would assume standard) 18.25 ounces, the box indicated that it only contained 15.25 ounces. So, wait a minute... Why am I being charged more money for less product? I put the box back and picked up a different brand that was still the standard 18.25 ounces, despite it being slightly more expensive per ounce.

I looked up some information on the Internet and found that many consumers are upset over the change in product volume. While companies say that they have "reformulated" their cake mixes so that they produce the same size cakes with less mix, the general consensus among bakers seems to be that the new formula just doesn't work. The cakes sink or otherwise don't turn out right, have more air bubbles and therefore more holes due to the increase in leavening agents, and when making cupcakes one must choose between making them smaller or simply making fewer than the standard 24. And in case you're wondering, yes, the boxes that contain 15.25 ounces still say that you can make one 13"x9", two 8" or 9" round cakes, or 24 cupcakes. How does this make sense? Unfortunately, from what I researched it sounds like all of the major companies that produce cake mix are going to the smaller boxes. ='( I don't know about you, but I'd rather pay a little more for the same formula and amount of product, especially since the recipes we bakers use have come to depend on the standard 18.25 ounce boxes of cake mix.

Well, there's my cake mix rant. On to the recipe!

Here's what you need:

1 (18.25 oz.) box of cake mix, any flavor
1 (8 oz.) tub Cool Whip® whipped topping, thawed in the refrigerator
1 egg
Powdered sugar


Before you even get out the mixing bowl, I must stress that the whipped topping must be thawed in the refrigerator first; the tub should have instructions on how to do so (i.e., place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, do not microwave, etc.). If the Cool Whip® is still frozen when you try to blend it with the cake mix and egg, it will be more difficult to stir and make a uniform batter.

Now that's cleared up, preheat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper. If you don't have parchment paper, you can use a light spritz of baking spray. This is important because this cookie batter has relatively little fat in it compared to other cookies with a butter or shortening base, and it's fat that keeps cookies from sticking to the pan.

In a large bowl combine the cake mix, egg, and thawed whipped topping. It'll take some muscle to mix everything up into a batter, because the mixture will be thick. (I don't think I've tried making this with an electric mixer before, but I guess it couldn't hurt to try. However, I would be afraid of over-mixing, causing the whipped topping to lose its consistency.)



Place some powdered sugar in a shallow bowl and dip your fingers in it; the cookie batter is EXTREMELY sticky and difficult to get off your hands. Then start pinching off small amounts of dough and rolling them in the powdered sugar, giving the cookies a nice, thorough coating. Place the cookies on your prepared cookie sheet, giving them plenty of room to spread. I went ahead and flattened them a bit as well.



Then bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool for several minutes before moving them to a cooling rack or container, because they'll still need a little time to set up.


Once the cookies are nice and cooled off, you can call it a day and store them in an airtight container. Or, if you really like sugar, you can dust them with a little more, like I did. ;)


This recipe is also excellent when made with chocolate or white cake mix, and I would imagine that lemon or orange would be nice and refreshing as well. Experiment! It's fun. =) I happened to make them strawberry this time because my boyfriend loves strawberry. No matter what flavor you use, these cookies are sweet and chewy and just awesome.

Your cupcake,

~Jesia <3

Friday, August 10, 2012

Florida Key Lime Pie

While I was in Florida last month, I decided to send out some postcards to friends. One of them had a really simple recipe for Florida Key Lime Pie on it, which seemed interesting. So before sending it to a friend of mine who is in culinary school, I copied down the recipe. Luckily, I also found a digital copy of the postcard online to post here. =)

Here's what you need:

4 egg yolks
1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
3 oz. Key Lime juice (equal to 6 tablespoons)
1 graham cracker pie crust
whipped cream

Yep, that's all you need! Don't believe me? Here's the postcard.


Assemble your ingredients and preheat the oven to 350ᵒF, please.


Simply combine the egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk in a bowl like so, and mix it up till it's all nice and combined...


Then start adding the Key Lime juice; I added 2 tablespoons at a time and mixed in between...


Once all 6 tablespoons (3 oz.) of the juice have been added, keep stirring until you have a nice, creamy consistency. Then pour it into your graham cracker crust...


And bake for 10 minutes at 350ᵒF...


Ta-dah! But hold on, you're not quite done yet. Let the pie cool for a bit on a wire rack, then place it in the fridge to let it chill completely before serving with whipped cream. =D


NOW, you can enjoy.

Your Cupcake,

~Jesia <3

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Cheesy Taco Bean Dip

So, this was my first time making bean dip, and it was super easy. It was also my first time eating it, and it was quite tasty, if I do say so myself. I used this recipe from the blog Life as a Lofthouse.

Here's what you need:

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
1 (8 oz.) package sour cream
1 tablespoon taco sauce (optional)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 large can (about 31 oz.) refried beans
1 (8 oz.) package (or 2 cups) shredded cheddar cheese*
1 (8 oz.) package (or 2 cups) shredded monterey jack cheese*

You'll also need some tortilla chips to serve this bean dip with!

*I actually used a 16 oz. package (4 cups) of "fiesta blend" shredded cheese, which contained both types of cheese called for in the recipe plus a couple of others.


Go ahead and preheat the oven to 350ᵒF and spray a 9"x13" glass casserole dish with cooking spray. You'll need a large mixing bowl and a utensil of choice (like a large spoon or a rubber spatula). First, mix together the cream cheese and sour cream (you'll probably want to soften the cream cheese; I was in a hurry and didn't do this, which resulted in small lumps of cream cheese throughout the mixture), then add the packet of taco seasoning and taco sauce and mix them in well. I personally went for a mild bean dip, using "cheesy" taco seasoning and mild sauce, but I'm sure you could spice it up with a hotter variety if you like. ;)


Next, add the can of refried beans and thoroughly incorporate it into the cream cheese mixture.


Then transfer the refried bean mixture to your casserole dish, making sure to spread it evenly.


Last, but certainly not least, top the bean mixture evenly with the shredded cheeses...


... and bake at 350ᵒF for 25-30 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and melted with a bit of a golden brown color to it. Voila! You have bean dip.


The layer of cheese is a bit thick, so you may need a spoon to break into the dip at first. You'll probably break your tortilla chip if you go straight in with it. =P Anyway, this recipe is easy, yummy, and perfect for get-togethers with friends or family. Enjoy!

Your Cupcake,

~Jesia <3