Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies

Aren't these festive? I've decided I am totally digging anything with cheesecake involved here lately. The filling in these are more of a cream cheese frosting than cheesecake, but that doesn't make them any less delicious. These are fairly easy to make, using a cake mix to make the dough. I took these babies to the office and everyone loved them.  A few comment were..."these are so soft and moist," "I think these are the best cookies I've ever had," and my favorite, "these were like a party in my mouth." Needless to say, these cookies are pretty good. The dough is a little sticky, so be forewarned when you work with it. Hope you all are having a great time with all of your holiday baking, and I think these would be great to add to your repertoire.

Ok I don't know if I'm "supposed" to say this, but other than the baking part, I'm REALLY ready for Christmas to be over. It is just so stressful, and I don't even have kids yet. The stores are just jam-packed, the grocery store isn't even fun right now. Have you ever seen Christmas with the Cranks? I'm thinking a cruise for Christmas would be great, but how are you supposed to get out of everything? I need to start looking into this idea.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies  

For the cookies:

• 1 box red velvet cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

For the cheesecake filling:

• 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

For the white chocolate drizzle:

• 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips, melted 

1. To make cookies, in a large bowl combine cake mix and flour. Whisk until clumps disappear. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together cake mix, flour, eggs, oil and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. The dough will be oily. Refrigerate for at least two hours. 

2. To make the cheesecake filling, using a mixer, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Using a teaspoon, scoop out cheesecake filling and place on a plate. Continue scooping out cheesecake filling into teaspoon balls until you have 10. Place plate in the freezer and freeze for at least two hours. 

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. To assemble the cookies, take about 1/4 cup of red velvet cookie dough and flatten in your hands. Place a teaspoon of cheesecake filling in the center and wrap the cookie dough around the filling. Gently roll into a ball and place on prepared baking sheet. Scoop onto lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheets. Only bake 3 cookies at a time. The cookies are large and will spread. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies begin to crackle. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove from baking sheet to a wire cooling rack and cool completely. 

4. Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl or over a double-boiler. Drizzle the white chocolate over the cooled cookies. Let the cookies set until the chocolate hardens. Serve and enjoy!


I wish I could say I came up with the recipe, but alas I did not. It was Maria at two peas and their pod who came up with this yumminess. Check out her blog for her beautiful pictures. I am definitely not that caliber of a photographer yet, but I'm working on it. :) Guess who's wishing for a new camera for Christmas? Santa, *hint hint*

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Let the cookie and candy baking begin! I love this time of year, even though most Texans would curse me when I say this, but I would love to live somewhere a little colder that gets a little snow. That trip to Colorado made me want to be somewhere that I could really enjoy the season. Can you guys believe I still haven't decorated for Christmas? The other half is not too big on the holiday spirit, but I love it. I have such a small place that we really don't have anywhere to put a tree. I need to hit up pinterest for some small space decorating ideas. I need to get something in here. 


Anyway, lets move on to this amazingly delicious cookie. It tastes just like apple cider and these are great warm. I did do one thing different, which I regret, so learn from my mistake. When I went to the grocery store to pick up the caramel squares they only had a generic brand. When I smooshed them between my fingers they were pretty hard. If you start off with a hard caramel when they cool you'll end up with hard caramel, so I chose to use the Kraft caramel bits instead because they were a lot softer. When they baked they distributed throughout the cookie, so if this is what you are going for then the caramel bits are for you, but I wanted the pool of gooey caramel to ooze out when I break them open. So just an FYI when you go to get the ingredients. Any way that you do it though, if you like apple cider, you will love these. It's like the apple cider fairy drop kicked you in the mouth. Enjoy!

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

• 1 cup softened butter 
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix - all 10 packets 
• 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 Caramels (14 oz) 

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. (You really need the parchment!) 

In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. 

With your mixer (or an energetic spoon) cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy. 

Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well. 

Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined. 

Refrigerate for about an hour. (If you're really impatient you don't have to do this, but it makes it so much easier to work with.)

When you are ready to bake, unwrap your caramels.

Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut. (I used a rounded cookie scoop-full. My scoop holds about a Tablespoon.)

Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, covering it completely. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart. 

Bake 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges. Please don't over-bake! Once the cookies are done, slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down (either on the parchment or on a rack.) If you forget about them and they cool too much and stick to your parchment, put them into the freezer for a few minutes and they'll pop right off.


Recipe from Scrambled Henfruit.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

There is nothing better than a big ol' slice of pie during the holidays. If you are like me with a love for the classics, but wanting to try something a tad bit different, this may be a yummy, caramely (yes, I make up my own words) variation of the traditional apple pie for you. This year I told myself I wanted to experiment with pies, and for the first time, make my own crust from scratch.  So far I've made a Maple-Walnut Pie, White Chocolate-Rum Pie, (Delicious, but didn't set) and this beauty here. The added caramel really ups the flavor ante. This one was really fun to make because I baked it over at my mom's house the night before Thanksgiving.  I had the other half and mom in the kitchen with me helping me with the pie and helping me with a bottle of champagne. They both helped peel, core, and slice the apples for the pie (while grumbling the whole time) while I worked on the crust and the caramel. They were great little helpers, and isn't that what the holidays are all about anyway? Hope you all had a great one!  Now it's time for Christmas cookies and candy. 


What are you baking for the holidays? 

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

• 3 pounds mixed apples
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 1/2 stick butter 
• 1 tbsp cream
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 disks dough of basic crust
• 1 large egg beaten
• coarse sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

1. Peel and core the apples; slice 1/4 inch thick; toss with lemon juice.
2. Cook sugar over medium-high heat until amber, about 10 minutes.
3. Off the heat, stir in butter and cream; add apples and cook until soft.
4. Stir in flour; let cool, then add sea salt.
5. Roll out 1 disk of dough into a 12-inch round on a floured surface; ease into a 9-inch pie plate. (or start with a store bought pie crust) 
6. Add the apples, mounding them slightly in the center.
7. Roll out the remaining dough into a 12-inch round. Lay it over the filling; press the edges of the crusts together, then fold over the overhang under itself and crimp to seal. (Feel free to do anything you'd like for the covering crust, as you can see I attempted a lattice top, need to work on that) Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse. Cut a few slits in the top crust. Chill 1 hour.
8. Place a baking sheet on the lowest oven rack and preheat to 425 for 30 minutes. Place the pie on the hot baking sheet; lower the temperature to 375.
9. Bake until golden, 1 hour to 1 hour, 10 minutes. (cover the edges with foil if they brown too quickly) Cool on a rack.

Basic Crust (Makes 2 disks dough)

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting) 
• 1/4 tsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp sugar 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 4 tbsp cold vegetable shortening, cut into pieces 
• 10 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces 

1. Pulse the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a food processor. 
2. Add the shortening and 1/3 of the butter; pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. 
3. Add the remaining butter and pulse until it is the size of peas. 
4. Add 1/4 cup ice water and pulse a few more times. If the dough doesn't hold together when squeezed, add more ice water, 1 tbsp at a time, pulsing. 
5. Divide between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Pat into disks; wrap and chill at least 1 hour. 

I was given a little insert from a food network magazine that had 50 pies in it. Different variations of the classics. This is where I found the recipe with many delicious sounding others. 

Maple-Walnut Pie

If you love pecan pie then you will love this variation. It's the same as your regular pecan pie recipe except you replace the corn syrup with real maple syrup and you replace the pecans with toasted walnuts. The maple syrup gives it almost more of a vanilla flavor. This was actually my first attempt at making my pie crust from scratch, and it turned out pretty well. It's actually pretty easy when using a food processor to do it. I took this pie to our office Thanksgiving party and there was none left over for me to take home to let the other half try. (Poor thing just had to smell the heaven coming out of the oven and didn't get to try it) As far as the pie crust goes though, this is how I feel, unless you think your recipe for pie crust is way better than store bought, or you just really prefer making your desserts from scratch, feel free to use store bought. It's easier and consistent. Then again perfecting your recipe is part of the fun of baking, right? :) 

Maple-Walnut Pie

• 1 disk dough of basic crust (recipe below) or one 9-inch store bought crust 
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted 
• 3 large eggs 
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 
• 3/4 cup real maple syrup 
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice 
• 1 tsp lemon zest 
• 1 tbsp flour 
• 2 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1/2 tsp maple extract 
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 2 1/4 cups chopped walnuts, toasted 

1. Place a baking sheet on the lowest oven rack and preheat to 425 for 30 minutes. 
2. Meanwhile, make the filling; Whisk all of the remaining ingredients except the walnuts in a bowl. 
3. Spread the walnuts in the crust and pour in the filling. 
4. Place the pie on the hot baking sheet and lower the temperature to 325.
5. Bake until the crust is golden and the filling is set, 45 to 55 minutes. (Cover the edges with foil if they brown too quickly.) Cool on rack. 

Basic Crust (Makes 2 disks dough)

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting) 
• 1/4 tsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp sugar 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 4 tbsp cold vegetable shortening, cut into pieces 
• 10 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces 

1. Pulse the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a food processor. 
2. Add the shortening and 1/3 of the butter; pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. 
3. Add the remaining butter and pulse until it is the size of peas. 
4. Add 1/4 cup ice water and pulse a few more times. If the dough doesn't hold together when squeezed, add more ice water, 1 tbsp at a time, pulsing. 
5. Divide between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Pat into disks; wrap and chill at least 1 hour. 
6. Roll out the dough into a 12 in round on a lightly floured surface. 
7. Ease into a 9-inch pie plate; fold the overhang under itself and crimp. 
8. Chill for 30 minutes

I was given a little insert from a food network magazine that had 50 pies in it. Different variations of the classics. This is where I found the recipe with many delicious sounding others. 

A Weekend Getaway

Last weekend the other half and I decided to take a little trip to Denver.  Neither of us had gone before and thought it would be a great city to explore. It was absolutely beautiful, and after the extremely hot Texas summer it was great to be in the cold all bundled up. For those of you that don't know, we dabble in home brew. We definitely enjoy our beer and love creating our own. Denver and other areas in Colorado are chalk full of micro-breweries, it's like the Napa valley for beer, "beer country." =) So we flew in Friday night and checked into our hotel downtown and walked a couple of blocks to a unique little gastopub for dinner, where they served things like lamb burgers, truffle fries, and duck posole. 

Saturday was the day the other half termed "beer day," we walked around downtown all day, visiting 16th street full of shopping and restaurants, LODO (lower downtown,) and lots of pubs and breweries. My favorite was The Great Divide, where they had a nice little tour and lots of different beers to try in the tasting room. This was such a fun relaxing day. 

This is where the magic happens

Fermenting tanks in the back and some oak aging going on in those barrels :)

Sunday was our site-seeing day, so we drove on to Golden, Red Rock Amphitheater, and Boulder. Golden was a small little town where there wasn't much to see, we ended up not stopping. They're known for their big brewery, which is Coors Brewing Company. Then we moved on to Red Rock, talk about beautiful! It's an old amphitheater that is built in between these gorgeous red rocks that are situated just right for great acoustics. 

The amphitheater

We then moved on to Boulder, where stumbled upon another micro-brewery, there our server gave us directions to a little waterfall up in the mountains. After finishing our pint we excitedly got our things together to go explore the mountains. We found more snow and amazing views. The waterfall was just a little hike off the road, definitely worth it. 

What a beautiful site

We kept going further into the mountains where we stumbled upon a lake and a little ski town. We ended up driving back to Denver the scenic route down the mountain. Our flight wasn't due out until 8:50 so we still had time to check some things out in the city. We had a great trip, and it was actually our first one by ourselves without any friends or family traveling with us.  It was wonderful and I can't wait to do it again.  It was like meeting up with an old friend.  We all get caught up in the daily grind and sometimes forget to connect and really spend quality time with our loved ones.  It's great to slow down and really enjoy life and those around you.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yumminess, stuffed inside of yumminess, how can you go wrong?  This chocolate chip cookie recipe is probably one of the best I've come across.  You stick an Oreo inside that and you've got a winner.  I took a few of these to work the next day (the rest I hoarded at home for myself), and they were a huge hit.  I plan on baking a lot more cookies after Thanksgiving, so this is just something to wet the appetite.  The next two weeks I'm going to dedicate to pies!  To be honest I have never tried making my own pie crust and I've decided it's time to change that.  If you guys have any tips for me, they would be much appreciated.

Another thing I would like your input on is something I've been struggling with.  That is the struggle between baking and eating these beautiful yummy things, and staying healthy and watching the waistline.  I can't seem to find a good balance.  When I'm counting calories and trying to shed a few pounds it's really hard to spare 200 to 500 calories on a little dessert.  Everything I've found to bake that is low calorie is usually whole wheat, with splenda, and no butter.  This makes the baked goods healthier but not so yummy.  What's a girl to do?  Any ideas?  I absolutely love baking, so a few extra pounds is not going to stop me, but finding a nice balance would be great.

Now on to that yummy recipe. Reprinted from another great blog that I love to read, Picky Palate.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies 

• 2 sticks softened butter 
• 3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar 
• 1 Cup granulated sugar 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla 
• 3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 10 oz bag chocolate chips 
• 1 bag Oreo Cookies, I used the double stuff 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Serve with a tall glass of milk, enjoy!

Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE Cookies

October and Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Happy Halloween and Happy Monday! 

I do have to apologize for not having a totally awesome, gross, Halloween post for you. It has been a very busy month, full of activities and fun. Been going to a lot of sporting events and get-togethers. Unfortunately, I haven't been home to bake as often as I'd like, and honestly between everything I've been too tired to sit down and write anything for the blog. I did manage to crank a few things out of the kitchen though, some great, some experiments that were not so great. :) Oh well, learn from your mistakes. Some recipes I need to tweak and perfect a little more before sharing them with you. 

The news I'm most excited to share with you all is that I finally jumped on the Swiss Meringue Buttercream bandwagon. I do have to say it is amazing! It is smooth and fluffy and not too sweet. Way better than regular buttercream! Once you go Swiss you can't resist! (Geez :p) I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to regular buttercream after trying this. I just made the regular vanilla version, although the flavor possibilities are endless. I learned the technique and got the recipe off of one of my favorite blogs, Sweetapolita. She has a post that totally breaks down the different types of meringue buttercreams and their techniques. I found it to be very informative and helpful. 

Swiss Meringue Buttercream 

Ingredients: 

5 large egg whites (30g each–total 150g) 

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine granulated sugar 

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into cubes 

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 

Pinch of salt 

Directions: 

Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer with paper towel and vinegar, to remove any trace of grease. Add egg whites and sugar, and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly, until temperature reaches 140 degrees F, or if you don’t have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot. 

With whisk attachment of mixer, begin to whip until the mixture is thick, glossy, and cool. Switch over to paddle attachment and, while mixing on medium speed continuously, add softened butter in chunks until incorporated, and mix until it has reached a silky smooth texture (if curdles, keep mixing and it will come back to smooth). Add vanilla and salt, mix well. You can also add a wide variety of flavorings, extracts, and more. 

Keep in airtight container in refrigerator for up to one week, leaving out at room temperature when needed, rewhipping in mixer for 5 minutes. 

Can freeze for up to 6-8 weeks. 

Makes approximately 5 cups of buttercream.

Here are a few things coming out of my kitchen this month...... 

Root beer Cupcakes

Pumpkin Ale Cupcakes (Still working this one out.)

Chocolate cake with Swiss meringue buttercream filling and chocolate frosting

So how was your Halloween?  Did you get to take the kiddos trick or treating?  No kids here so I don't get to do that yet, but my mom (lover of all things scary) and a friend of hers dragged me to a haunted house this year.  I swear I clung on to them like it was a life or death situation, then when they start chasing you with a chain saw, oh no, why do we like to scare ourselves?