Best-Ever Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Oh geez did July just disappear on me? How the heck did that happen?  I have been really enjoying time at home with my two little ones. Some days are really easy with them, Emilio will eat, sleep, poop and repeat this routine several times throughout the day. Elena on the other hand, she will eat, play, eat, poop, sleep, play, play, eat, and sleep. Then some days are hard because it's just a tad different routine with her, but I have been managing to spend quality one on one time with her when Emilio is down for his nap. 

The other day I managed to rock both of the kids to sleep at the same time for their afternoon naps, and I totally felt like supermom. I really wanted to take a nap as well and cuddle with both of my babies at the same time. Yet, I felt the sweet urge to bake something scrumptious and baked a batch of my freezer stash of the best chewy chocolate chip cookies ever. I'm totally guilty of not sharing this recipe for awhile now because they disappear fast and don't last enough for me to take a food photo. They are that GOOD.

Homemade Hostess Cupcakes

Do you remember the moment when you came to the realization that you were an adult? Or when you realized that you were too old to be a kid anymore.

Last year when I finally became a mother, I felt the pangs of adulthood smack me in the face when I realized I was responsible for the life of another human being. That is some scary stuff, but at the same time, it's been really exciting and rewarding to teach my kids things as well. Right now we are working on teaching Elena simple words like "Mami" "Papi" "thank you" and "brother." Eric and I have talked about Elena's and Emilio's first day of pre-school, and who will tutor them in math or English when they have homework, and what sports they will play in. We laughed about Emilio and all the girls that Elena will beat up on and vice versa, too. I have really felt like an adult now talking about all the things we want to teach our children and the things we want to do with them.

Tiramisu

There are a few desserts that my husband and I typically like to always order whenever we dine out at restaurants. There's the sinfully gooey pizookie (giant cookie cooked in a mini pizza pan), a warm slice of apple pie (ala mode is a must for me), or the creamy and indulgent cheesecake (because making a regular size one at home would require fat buffet pants for the rest of the month). My personal favorite is the ever so decadent tiramisu, an Italian classic dessert that is a coffee lover's dream come true. However, Eric isn't a fan of chocolate desserts, so it's a rare occasion if I can indulge in tiramisu.

I had a sudden craving to make it myself when I saw that my food bloggy girlfriend, Eva, had Tiramisu on her baking bucket list. I don't have a cooking or baking bucket list written down but just a running backlog of recipes in my head that I always want to cook or bake up. It's the desire to complete food challenges to feel a sense of accomplishment and mainly to figure out if homemade desserts taste better at home versus the restaurants, too. And it's always fun to collaborate with my food bloggy community whenever I can especially before my hands will be busy with a newborn. (We have less than a month left until my due date!)

Kahlua Cappuccino-Fudge Cheesecake

No matter how you look at it birthdays are wonderful milestones in your life.

It's funny when I was younger like in my kiddo days, I absolutely loved birthdays. The silly excuse to eat cake, have an awesome party all in your honor and the insane amount of presents from your friends and family. Nowadays, my view on birthdays are "UGH, I'm getting old!" or "OMG, it's here again - another year has past?" Birthdays shouldn't be painful reminders of how old you are, but they should make you appreciate the simple and positive things that happened in the past year. The birth of my beautiful daughter, saying goodbye to the working world and becoming a stay at home mommy, and enjoying the love of my family and friends. Birthdays are your very own personal holiday, and that never gets old.

One of my favorite birthday celebrations is baking up my birthday cake. Some may think that this is silly that I bake up my own birthday cake, and that maybe I should buy a cake. Or maybe have my husband, bake me a cake - that might happen later down the road. I really love the baking challenge of finding my birthday cake and creating and enjoying it. It's my own private birthday relaxation and celebration all rolled into one special cake.

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and it's not a typical holiday that Eric and I usually celebrate. We don't need a day to tell each other that we love each other, when we do that every day of the year. ;-) Plus, we are too busy celebrating my birthday which is in a couple of days. I already got a sweet early birthday gift of a much needed pre-natal massage. It was absolutely perfect and what made it even more perfect, the masseuse came to my house for the appointment. LOVE!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Happy Friday!

Every year I tell myself that I need to get better about buying candy for Halloween. The ratio to kids to candy leftover is always off. We didn't take Elena trick or treating but passed out candies instead. We had about 4 or 5 groups of kids visit us on Halloween and we were left with half a bucket of candy. Secretly, I had purposely bought a large bag of Reese's Peanut Cups because I wanted to eat a one or few. Not a problem right?

Luckily, I also wanted something extra sweet and something to use up the leftover candy before I ate them all to myself. This decadent and candy-licious cheesecake came together as a matter of chance because I had Oreo cookies leftover from my batch of Slutty Brownies. You can easily use graham crackers for the crust, but where's the chocolate fun in that? This dessert would be ideal for all you peanut butter and chocolate fans and an extra bonus to those cheesecake lovers...it's one spectacular dessert that is absolutely amazing.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups + Cheesecake = AWESOMEness.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Adapted from Gimme Some Oven
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Salted Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies

Wow, November is finally here. There are 53 days left until Christmas is here. OMG. Plus, you can officially appreciate the holiday decorations at all the stores and start cranking those holiday tunes. Or most likely you can start planning your Thanksgiving menu and start dreaming about all those holiday carbs. I'm a complete sucker for the holiday feasting and the countless holiday get-togethers there will be. I can't wait to put Elena in some cute Christmas onesies that I got last year, let's cross our fingers and hope they will fit.

I baked up these sweet treats while the SoCal weather had cooled down for us. It's a classic chocolate chip cookie amped up with espresso, toffee bits and a touch of sea salt. These soft and chewy cookies are the perfect way to help with your holiday planning madness. The SoCal weather may peak up in the high 80s this weekend because of the cranky Santa Ana winds, so make sure you plan ahead and bake these early in the morning. You can tease your loved ones with the sweet smell of cookies baking away in the kitchen.

Have a great weekend, and bake some cookies!

Salted Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies
Adapted from The Baker Chick & Baking Illustrated
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Best Brownies Ever aka Slutty Brownies

I am so deliriously happy that today is Friday.

It has been one of the longest weeks that I have experienced as a mommy. My husband has been away all week long at a work conference in Texas and Elena and I are so looking forward to having him back home. The awesome upside to being single mom for the week: I had the entire King bed to myself. I ate whatever I wanted for dinner like something simple like cereal or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Plus, I got to watch plenty of sappy and over dramatic teenage drama like Dawson's Creek. I remember watching this show during my early college years and I don't think I ever finished watching the show.

The horrible downside to being a single mom for a week: missing the extra helping hand especially when Elena was throwing a temper tantrum. I gave her peas for dinner last night, and she threw the biggest hissy fit. She absolutely hated it, and it probably seemed like forever to her when I was prepping a new bowl of food. Eric would have been there to entertain there, coo her worries away or made sure she liked her peas.

S'mores Whoopie Pies

Happy Friday and Happy 4th Blogiversary!

4 years ago I started out with this post and continued to publish more food posts to document my journey as a newlywed wife. After my first successful Good Eats Roast turkey, I was driven to cook and bake everything that our hungry stomachs craved. Blogging here has become a big part of my everyday life and I can't thank my husband, my family, my friends and my readers for reading my posts this entire time.

Reflection on the past year and highlights:

• My little cookie in the oven was born and Elena has been the best addition to our lives.
• I had an awesome virtual Cuban-Filipino baby shower fiesta thrown by my fabulous food blogging friends. (I still have wild dreams of this fantastic spread).
• I baked up the sweetest Spumoni Ice Cream Layer Sundae Cake for my birthday. 
• Meatless Mondays (MMs) were a great way to save on our grocery budget and one of my favorite meal planning days. I need to get back on the bus for posting MM again. 
• Eric and I hosted our first Noche Buena with our family and we roasted a 75 pound Lechon Asado (roasted pig).
• I attended my first Food Buzz Conference in San Francisco and met a lot of fabulous bloggers who are just as awesome in real life. 
• My most popular post of Buffalo Chicken Tacos has circulated quite a bit especially on Pinterest.

To celebrate and honor my 4th Blogiversary, I baked up these sugary addicting treats of S'mores Whoopie Pies. They are like little soft graham cracker cookie cakes filled with homemade marshmallow fluff and mocha cappuccino hazelnut spread or cookie butter. It's one homemade sandwich cookie that will rock your world and it would be a fantastic sweet treat to enjoy during this Labor Day weekend. 

Thanks a million times for reading here and hurry up and make some Whoopie (pies)!

S'mores Whoopie Pies
Adapted from Cookies & Cups
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{Printable Recipe}

S'mores Pudding

Happy Friday and National S'mores Day!

Nothing says summer like S'mores over an open fire. The traditional way to eat a S'Mores is roasted marshmallows in between two graham crackers with a chocolate bar. It's one of those ooey gooey desserts you can't stop wishing s'more of. (No pun intended.) I can't think of a better way to start the weekend than enjoying this decadent grown up treat. I made this scrumptious dessert because: 1) I wanted chocolate pudding 2) S'mores was on my mind and 3) because having these two desserts combined into one equals deliciousness in a cup.

The hardest part of this dessert is waiting for it to chill and enjoy. It takes a bit of prep work to prepare the luscious chocolate pudding and the fluffy marshmallow creme on top. The funnest part of this dessert is roasting the marshmallow creme like you would for a traditional S'mores with a kitchen blow torch.

Kitchen disclaimer and truth: I have never used my kitchen blow torch on my own without the assistance of my husband. He wasn't home from work just yet and I felt so helpless trying to fandangle how to use my blowtorch. I finally googled and watched a you-tube video on how to use it correctly. Thank you You Tube for saving the day.

Celebrate the weekend right with this S'Mores dessert!

S'Mores Pudding
Adapted from Annie's Eats
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Cookies 'n Cream Ice Cream

My favorite summer treat has to be ice cream. One of my favorite things to do when I was a teen was visit Thrifty's ice cream for their 99 cent double scoop ice cream. One of my two favorite ice cream flavors was either mint and chip or cookies and cream, and it was always dependent if they ran out or not. It was a fantastic cheap treat and mainly an excuse to get something sweet, too!

Coincidentally, July is National Ice Cream month, and even though it's the last day of the month to celebrate it, you still have plenty of time to enjoy this ice cream all summer long. Think of it as a perfectly good excuse to use your ice cream maker or to go out and purchase one if you don't already own one, too.

This ice cream is one of the best combinations out there, cookies and ice cream. Oreo's are one of those cookies you can't stop eating once you start, and so to have it in your ice cream...is utterly delicious. This is one of the creamiest ice creams that I have ever made and even better than any ice cream that I had enjoyed at Thrifty's.

Luscious spoonfuls of heaven!

Cookies 'n Cream Ice Cream
Adapted from Pennies on a Platter

Cookie Dough Billionaire Bars

Is it really June? Wow. I had the worst luck this week trying to get back into my regular blogging schedule because my computer had a nasty virus. Luckily my husband fixed it up and I am back in business! The month of May went by like a breeze since I had my hands full learning the ins and outs of my sweet baby girl, Elena. I can't believe that she is already a month old and almost 10 pounds. I felt like it was just yesterday that we had brought her home from the hospital.

I was happy to receive a copy of The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook from the fabulous blog of Love and Olive Oil. Congrats to Lindsay on such a wonderful book. It's filled with plenty of eggless cookie dough recipes that are perfect for any cookie dough lover. This book gives you plenty of reasons to eat cookie dough by the buckets. Chocolate chip cookie dough truffles, cookie dough whoopie pies, cookie dough cream pie, and oatmeal raisin cookie dough granola bars are a handful of recipes that I have bookmarked to make to make in the very distant future.

These cookie dough billionaire bars are easy to prepare and a perfect crowd pleaser. I had baked a batch of these bars to thank Eric's coworkers for their sweet welcome gifts for Elena. The bars are composed of a crispy shortbread cookie crust with a luscious caramel layer and the creamy cookie dough topped with a chocolate glaze. I added some chocolate jimmies for that extra wow factor. They are melt in your mouth delicious! Make these for your next get together or to share with your family and friends.

Also, make sure to get your copy of The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook, it's available for pre-order on Amazon and will be released June 5.

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Cookie Dough Billionaire Bars
Adapted from The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
Shortbread:
1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Caramel:
7 ounces soft caramel candies, about 25 candies, unwrapped
2 tablespoons heavy cream
or (caramel sauce)

Cookie Dough:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Chocolate glaze:
4 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon unsalted butter

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on two sides.
Prepare the shortbread. In the bowl of the stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and salt and beat until combined. Add the flour and mix until incorporated, dough will resemble like coarse sand and crumbly. Press into the prepared pan and lightly pat it down until firm. Poke shallow holes into the surface of the dough with a fork or skewer. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden. Remove pan from oven and set on a wire rack.

Prepare the caramel sauce. Place caramel candies in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add heavy cream and stir until completely melted. Pour hot caramel sauce over shortbread crust and spread into an even layer. Refrigerate until set, for at least 1 hour. If caramel is still soft and sticky after 1 hour, it may help to freeze it for another 15 minutes before continuing.

Prepare the cookie dough mixture. Cream together the sugar and the butters in the bowl of the stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in the heavy cream and vanilla, and combine. Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spread cookie dough on top of the caramel layer, using a spatula to create an even layer. Keep in the fridge until you prepare the chocolate glaze.

In a small saucepan over low, heat, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring constantly until smooth. Spread chocolate glaze over cookie dough layer and chill until set, about 30 minutes.

Remove bars from pan, gripping the parchment paper by the sides and lift carefully. Place on cutting board and using a large sharp knife cut into 2-inch bars. Will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 3 days.

Yield: 16 bars

Tip: If baking for a group. This recipe can be doubled or tripled and made in a 13x9 baking pan for 32 crowd-pleasing bars.

Review: Absolutely scrumptious and baked a double batch for Eric's coworkers. They disappeared quickly and were enjoyed by all. Elena says thank you for the wonderful gifts!!

Biscoff Cookie Dough Balls

Happy Friday!

It's a wet day here in SoCal, and the gloomy April showers are here. I really wish I had my vegetable garden blossoming away because the rain would be so beneficial, but Eric and I have been so busy preparing for cookie's arrival that my garden is lacking. However, for now my tomatoes from last season are sprouting new flowers as well as my citrus trees. If I manage to find time in the next 4 weeks before cookie's estimated due date, maybe I will have some vegetables come summer. (Can you believe that I'm 36 weeks already?!?! EEKS!)

For the most part, I have been baking goodies and starting to freeze some meals in anticipation for cookie's arrival. I know the lack of blog posts are quite evident, but be rest assured that I'm still cooking in the kitchen. I even prepared Good Friday dinner last week: my go-to recipe of fish tacos and an awesome cheese dip and irresistable creme brulee that I'll be sharing next week. It's exhausting growing a baby, but I'm really looking forward to the day of meeting our little one soon enough, too.

These biscoff cookie dough balls are probably in my top sweets list right now. Biscoff butter is sorta similar to Nutella and peanut butter, it's a sweet cookie spread that you can eat by the spoonfuls from the jar and not feel guilty about it. (I'm totally guilty of this by many occasions.) Anything made out of a cookie, made into a luscious cookie spread - has to be something brilliant and awesome. If you have had a biscoff cookie, it's a buttery, brown-sugar cookie that has a bit of spice to it. It's heavenly, trust me. It's one fantastic cookie made into a creamy cookie spread and then you add a bit to your basic chocolate chip cookie dough recipe. You have one cookie that you can't stop eating byt the platefuls. Mmmmmmm.

Make these soon and get your spoon's ready for some biscoff love!

Biscoff Cookie Dough Balls
Adapted from The Novice Chef
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 egg, room temperature
1/3 cup Biscoff spread
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your cookie sheet pans with a baking silpat or parchment paper.

In the bowl of the stand mixer, cream together butter, Biscoff spread, and sugars until well combined. Add egg and vanilla and beat until thoroughly combined (be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl).

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add half of the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until it starts to come together.

Add the remaining half of the dry mixture to the wet ingredients, and mix until well combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop cookie dough onto the cookie sheet. Place them evenly spaced apart at least 1 1/2 inches apart. The cookies do not need a lot of space and they will not spread out.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. They are dough balls, not cookies. You want them to be soft on the inside.

Remove from oven and allow to cool and set for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

Enjoy immediately! Best enjoyed warm.

Yield: 2+ dozen

Review: Simply sensational, and addicting. If you love peanut butter, you're going to love Biscoff. I found my Biscoff spread at Cost Plus World Market, but Trader Joe's has a similar version called Specaloos. It's the same thing, and you can easily substitute it.  

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I can't believe this month is practically over, and March is around the corner. I love my birthday month and might have celebrated a couple times over. Plus, I'm already dreaming about my next year's birthday with cookie in tow. Things surely will be different with a little one around, and I can hardly wait. A future little kitchen helper/taste-tester will be gladly appreciated.

Lately, I have been in love with the color pink, and maybe it's because I'm leaning towards cookie to be a girl, but I know that there is a 50% chance that cookie might be a boy, too. Cookie has 10 more weeks to bake and I can't wait to meet him/her. I baked up these peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies because I had randomly picked up some pretty in pink M&Ms at Target. Eric and I aren't big on Valentine's Day, but I still baked them for everyone to enjoy something sweet. They are simple enough to prepare and look extra pretty with the pink M&Ms. However, they would look just as pretty with regular colored M&Ms, too.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Picky Palate
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (9.90 ounce) bag Peanut Butter M&Ms

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the cookies sheets with parchment paper or silpat baking mat.

In the bowl of the stand mixer, cream together the sugars and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Scrape the sides down as needed with a spatula.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until combined. Add the rolled oats and chocolate chips. Mix until combined. Add about 3/4 bag of the Peanut Butter M&Ms.

Using a small cookie scoop, scoop dough onto prepared cookie sheet placing them at least 1 inch apart. Press cookies down slightly and add additional M&Ms to the top.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until slightly golden. Remove from oven, and let cool on cookie sheets for 10 minutes before placing on cooling rack.

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Review: I love any cookies with M&Ms, and you can interchange any flavored M&Ms to your liking. But I love the little bursts of peanut butter mixed with the sweet chocolate chips. Make sure to have a tall glass of milk to eat with all those cookies!
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Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

The Christmas countdown is down to 5 days! YIKES!!

Are you ready for the big day yet? I have been scrambling these past couple of days to get my house and kitchen ready for Nochebuena. Nochebuena is a spanish word translating to "Good Christmas" and it's a custom celebrated in Latin America, Spain, and the Phillipines. My family and Eric's family are getting together on the 24th to roast a baby pig (only 75 pounds or so). Picture our holiday celebration as "My Big Fat Cuban/Filipino Nochebuena," it's always fun to get both sides of the family together...crazy fun!

Nochebuena is a holiday tradition that Eric's grandfather has been celebrating every Christmas Eve that Eric can remember and he loved getting all of the family and friends together. Since Eric's grandfather had passed away earlier this year, Eric and I are happy to continue the Nochebuena traditions and celebrate a big feast in Elio's honor. Elio will greatly be missed, but most likely he will be watching from above and be very happy that the family is together. Be on the lookout next week on my blog post for how to roast a pig in a caja china (Chinese box) if you're wondering how everything turned out.

I still have a couple of homemade gifts, sweets and goodies that I have been making despite my crazy Christmas schedule. We had a Secret Santa exchange at my work and I wanted to bring something sweet highlighting the Christmas flavors, chocolate and peppermint. I knew that this chocolate cupcake would be ideal and a sweet treat, it's almost like an Andes mint but one thousand times better in cupcake form. Make a batch for the holidays and keep celebrating those family traditions that are absolutely precious.

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes
Adapted from What's Cookin' Chicago
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (3 sticks)
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Frosting:
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 to 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
6 candy canes, crushed to garnish

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with desired paper liners.

In a Pyrex glass 2 cup, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water until smooth. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter and sugar, stirring constantly until combined. Remove from heat and pour into the bowl of the stand mixer.

With the stand mixer on medium-low speed, beat the mixture until combined. Add the eggs one at a time mixing until incorporated. Scrape down the sides if needed. Add the peppermint extract, then cocoa mixture, and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low.

Add the flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream and mixing until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Using a large cookie scoop or ice cream scooper (about 3 tablespoons), divide batter into the muffin pans. Fill the batter about 2/3 full.

Bake for 17 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes before transferring to cooling racks. Let cupcakes cool completely before icing.

Prepare the frosting. In the bowl of the stand mixer with the whisk attachment, cream the sugar and butter together. Mix on low speed until fully combined and increase speed to medium and mix for at least 3 to 4 minutes. Add peppermint extract and heavy cream, and mix until combined.

Frost cupcakes as desired (I used the standard Wilton tip in a pastry bag method) and garnished the top with crushed peppermint candy canes.

Yield: 26 to 28 cupcakes

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Review: Rich chocolate with a light peppermint tangy frosting and are simply gorgeous. I love the bits of candy canes to give the holiday effect and I found Christmas cupcake liners (Reynolds) at the grocery store. Everyone was surprised by how much they liked these cupcakes. Not everyone is a fan of mint and chocolate mixed together but this combination was pretty tasty and mildly addicting!!

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

Hot chocolate is one of those childhood drinks that my husband and I absolutely love and adore. In fact, one of my husband's favorite breakfasts while growing up is a large cup of hot chocolate with plenty of Cuban bread and butter. Eric would dip his bread into his hot chocolate, and let the bread soak with the hot chocolate and munch happily away. It's almost like a dessert-ish kind of breakfast and he swears up and down that chocolate is not his favorite flavor either, but in hot chocolate form...he's all over it. Between you and me, I think he has a super sweet chocolate spot and refuses to admit it.

Eric's go-to hot chocolate mix is Nesquik, and his super sweet tooth adds a couple extra spoonfuls of sugar to the mix. I always laugh at the amount of sugar that he adds to his cup of hot chocolate, and secretly hoped he would not add more sugar to my homemade batch of hot cocoa. Homemade hot cocoa is easy to prepare and pairs perfectly with homemade peppermint marshmallows.

Luckily I still had some bars of Ghirardelli chocolate that I received from the FB Tastemaker program. I wanted to make a salted caramel hot chocolate mix using the Sea Salt Soiree but I didn't have enough bars of chocolate to make that batch. I'll have to make that on my next round of homemade hot chocolate, but you might be able to enjoy that sweet tip.

Make a batch for your homemade Christmas baskets and share with everyone you know. Or indulge in your secret chocolate addiction like my husband.

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
Adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
24 ounces high-quality semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
9 ounces dark chocolate, like 65% or higher grade, coarsely chopped
2 cups Dutch process cocoa
2 vanilla beans
4 cups granulated sugar

Preparation:

On a cutting board, carefully split and scrape the vanilla beans from the pods. Place in a large container with the sugar. Using your fingers work the seeds into the sugar, it's like massaging the vanilla beans into the sugar. Place the pods at the very bottom of the container. Cover and let stand overnight at room temperature.

In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process semi-sweet and dark chocolate until finely ground, using 4-second pulses. The noise may scare you, but process in batches if necessary. (I kept my hand on the top of the processor because it shook so much.)

Remove vanilla pods from sugar. Add the ground chocolate and cocoa powder to sugar and whisk to blend, making sure to combine well.

Store mix airtight at room temperature for up to six months. Or divide up in small 4 ounce jars or small cellophane bags.

To serve, heat 2 tablespoons of mix with 8 ounces of warmed milk. (Make sure milk is really hot so the chocolate can melt).

Yield: About 4.75 cups of hot chocolate mix

Review: Chocolate heaven in a cup. It's rich and decadent and a great homemade gift to share with your family and friends. Make sure to make the homemade peppermint marshmallows, too.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Are you in full Holiday Christmas spirit yet? There are only 15 days left until the big C-day!!! My husband and I are running a little behind at our house because we had to finish some house projects these past couple of weekends that were top priority. (My in-laws are coming in 2 weeks, so we have been cleaning and prepping away like crazy!!) I'm still waiting to buy our Christmas tree and finish the rest of our Christmas decorating. Hopefully, this weekend we will have our beautiful tree and the outside Christmas lights finished.

Last year I did a whole Christmas Cookie series called the Twelve days of Christmas cookies and treats. Everyone loved all of my delicious treats and I was on a permanent sugar high until the new year! This holiday season, I'm taking a little more practical and sensible approach for Christmas and doing everything homemade aside from just cookies and treats. I'll list some homemade Christmas gift ideas that will be perfect for your friends, family, neighbors and even those lovable yet quirky co-workers. I saved the idea from Shawnda's Christmas posts from last year and used a couple of her suggestions.

To start of the series, I wanted to use up some of my hidden stash of Halloween candies. (Hanging my head in shame.) For some odd reason, I had a handful of Reese's peanut butter cups still in my stash. I promise that I gave out handfuls of candy to the kiddos, but this was just the one candy that never left my house. The best way to use up these Reese's peanut butter cups were in either baked up or eaten. Plus, I had some of the mini peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's that were perfect on top of these sinful treats.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Adapted from Annie's Eats
Printable Link
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
6 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoon peanut butter (I used a mix of creamy & crunchy)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped and divided
*Note: Freeze the peanut butter cups for at least 30 minutes before chopping. It makes them easier to chop and helps them stay intact when you fold them into the cookie dough.

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with silpat or parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt until combined.

In the bowl of the stand mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars until blended. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add in the egg, vanilla extract and milk. Blend until combined, and scrape down the sides if needed. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients until incorporated. Fold in 1 1/2 cups of the chopped peanut butter cups and fold gently with a spatula.

Using a medium or large cookie scoop (about 2 to 3 tablespoons) drop spoonfuls of dough onto the prepared sheets. Gently press a couple of the reserved peanut butter cups into the top of the cookies.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking (if you don't have a convection oven). Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes and transfer to the cooling rack to cool immediately.

**Cookies may seem extra soft after coming out of the oven but they will set when they are cooled.**

Yield: 24 medium sized cookies or if you go bigger (about 16 to 18)

Review: Who doesn't love peanut butter and chocolate? It's the one of the best sweet peanut-ty combinations that I love and adore, next to peanut butter and jelly. I made this batch specifically for my cute nephews and niece that I don't see too often. I prepped them in cute little Christmas cookie bags so they could have something sweet when my sisters' deemed they were doing extra good that day.

From what my sisters told me, the kiddos loved it and were totally excited for their bags. Who wouldn't love a preview of sweet Christmas treats before the big C-day right? The funny thing, the big kids like my brother-in-law loved the cookies as well (I packed a couple extra bags) and called to thank me for the best cookie ever and to tell his wife (my sister) the recipe. He wants another batch!!! Thanks Duaine! And ahem, Karen - make these cookies!!!

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

I can't believe it's December?

Where did the last couple of weeks of November go? Oh I remember now, I was enjoying all that wonderful bacon-wrapped turkey (my aunt's recipe), yummy sides and truly enjoying those couple days off. I also took a couple days off in the kitchen from all the leftovers piled up in the fridge. I made some shephard's pie using leftover turkey and made a big batch of turkey stock. This week's menu was pretty inexpensive and I had planned meals that focused on pantry items and whatever was in the freezer. Easy menu items like pizza using my new Artisan Pizza & Flatbread cookbook and pasta.

There wasn't anything that I wanted to highlight and take photographs from this week except for these tasty breakfast treats that I baked up. Whenever I get a down week in cleaning the fridge and freezer, I'm usually baking up something with bananas. It's because I have an influx of bananas stored in the freezer and ready to use whenever I'm feeling the need to bake something sweet and simple. These banana espresso chocolate chip muffins are perfect for breakfast or a snack. For some odd reason due to my pregnancy food aversions, I'm not really into anything with chocolate but these are super tasty and moist. I forgot that there was chocolate in there, so it has to be good if it disappeared from my plate.

Simple and sweet.

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from Cate's World Kitchen
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of the stand mixer, combine the bananas, sugars, butter, milk and egg. Mix until combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, espresso powder, baking soda and salt.

Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet, until slightly lumpy. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin pans.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pans for about 10 minutes, then let cool completely on a wire rack.

Yield: 14 to 16 muffins

Review: Fantastic way to use up ripe bananas, and a sweet way to start your day. Update to my little cookie in the oven, we hit the milestone 17 weeks! I can't believe I'm almost at my halfway mark of my pregnancy. 2nd trimester has given me back my energy and love for cooking. I still have food aversions and I'm on a cereal kick in the mornings. Here's a recent picture of my husband and I (can you see a bump yet?) from a surprise birthday party that ended up being a surprise wedding party for the guests! (Congrats Lynn & Martika!)

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Ghirardelli's Sea Salt Soiree

I had been reading over a new cookbook from Stacy Adimando, and "Cookiepedia" instantly drew me in. Most cookbooks with sweets usually have a sweet soft spot for me because I can always use inspiration in the kitchen. This Cookiepedia will be your most trusted companion in the kitchen and contains dozens of the best recipes for a variety of delicious cookies. It's a well-thought and organized cookie book for any home baker, and I will be using some of the recipes in the coming months of holiday treats.

Coincidentally, the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program had sent myself some samples of Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolates of Sea Salt Soiree, Twilight Delight, and Midnight Reverie. LOVE. Well, I could have easily eaten the fancy selection of chocolates by themselves, but that was the easiest and most obvious choice. I wanted to highlight the intense chocolates using one of Stacy Adimando's recipes. Chocolate chip cookies were the logical choice and are the quintessential classic treat. It was an easy substitute of the bittersweet chocolate chunks for the Ghirardelli Sea Salt Soiree, it seemed like a perfect match in cookie heaven. The other two seemed perfect for brownies or triple chocolate chip cookies, both to be made at a later date in my kitchen.

These soft and chewy cookies were intensified to a sweeter level with the sea salt soiree. Sea salt soiree is a dark chocolate with bits of almonds and sea salt. These seriously were the best chocolate chip cookies that I have baked in a long time. Soft, chewy, and the chocolate had melted in your mouth. I did follow Stacy's tip of chilling the dough before baking the cookies away, and it created the ultimate chocolate chip cookie.
Sweet and sinful chocolate heaven.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt Soiree
Adapted from Cookiepedia
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
⅓ cup sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (8 ounces) Ghirardelli's sea salt soiree chocolate chunks, or bittersweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine.

In the bowl of the stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy Add the egg and and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture into the butter mixture on low speed until they are combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

*Tip: For the thickest, chewiest cookies, chill the dough for 1 to 2 hours or overnight. Roll it up the cookie dough in parchment paper, and slice up the cookies when ready to bake.

Using a small cookie scooper, scoop about 1 heaping tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheet. Add a pinch of kosher salt to each cookie if desired. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through baking.

Remove from oven, and place on cooling rack. Enjoy immediately or wait until the cookies have completely cooled.

Yield: 24 cookies
*Disclaimer: The product was provided to me as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program. No other compensation was received for this post. The post was written by myself and all opinions expressed are solely mine.
**Thank you to Quirk Productions for sending myself a copy of Cookiepedia to review, too.

Review: A heavenly chocolate chip cookie perfected with the sea salt soiree chunks, bittersweet chocolate chunks might be just as tasty. My husband's office was lucky enough to get my test batch of these cookies, and I told they were a hit with at his regional meeting. Thank goodness he brought in my sweets on meeting day, what a way to make a sweet impression with your fellow employees.

The Darkest Chocolate Ice Cream in the World

94 degrees. That’s still hot weather right? At least it dipped a bit from the 100 degree weather that we have been experiencing from the past week. What’s the best way to cool down when it’s hot outside? ICE CREAM!!! The darkest chocolate ice cream in the world to be exact.

I still have not put away my ice cream maker because I bought a new ice cream book “Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home.” It’s filled with whimsical and gourmet-style ice cream recipes and they all can be made at home. Goat cheese ice cream with roasted red cherries, Kona stout ice cream, roasted pumpkin 5-spice ice cream, rum ice cream with toasted coconut, gooey butter cake ice cream - to name a few drool worthy and irresistible recipes that I have been bookmarked to make. It’s definitely an ice cream lover’s delightful dream come true.

Jeni has created some of the most amazing flavor combos around, but they all start with one simple base. Her recipes do not use eggs whereas typical ice creams are custard-based. There is a science to her method for using cream cheese because it binds the ingredients and gives the ice cream body. A nice, sultry and creamy body. I won’t go into more details because I urge you to buy the book to learn more and indulge in a splendor of one the best chocolate ice creams that you will ever enjoy.

Luscious and the perfect cure for any hot heat wave days.

The Darkest Chocolate Ice Cream in the World
Adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
Chocolate Syrup:
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup brewed coffee
½ cup sugar
1 ½ ounces bittersweet chocolate (55% to 70% cacao), finely chopped
Ice Cream Base:
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 ½ ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, room temperature
⅛ teaspoon table salt
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Preparation:

For the chocolate syrup:
In a small saucepan combine the cocoa, coffee, and sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stirring quickly to dissolve the sugar, and let boil for 30 seconds. Remove from heat, add the chopped chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir the chocolate syrup until smooth and set aside.

For the Ice Cream base:
In a small bowl mix 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch to make a smooth slurry. In a medium bowl, whisk the cream cheese and warm chocolate syrup and salt until smooth. Prepare a large bowl with ice and water.

In a medium Dutch oven combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and let boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as needed, until cold, about 30 minutes.

When ready to prepare ice cream, pour in the ice cream base into the frozen canister and churn until thick and creamy, about 30 minutes - depending on your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Pour ice cream into freezer container, and press a sheet of parchment paper directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze until firm, about 4 hours.

Yield: 1 generous quart

Review: Simply amazing. The coffee highlights the chocolate ice cream and intensifies it just a teensy bit. Jeni describes this as “mouth-filling, palate-gripping, intense chocolate with a fudge-like texture and a pleasingly dry finish.” I couldn’t have described it any other way.