Cream cheese stuffed chocolate cookies.

These cookies taste just like the stuffed ones at Tim Hortons. They're thick, sweet, puffy, and fudgy.

Cream cheese stuffed chocolate cookies
Recipe adapted from: Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients for the cookies:
1 cup and 3 tbsp of all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup of white sugar, divided
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tablespoon of milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract


Cream cheese filling

4 ounces of block cream cheese
1 and 3/4 cups of icing sugar
1 Tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla.


For the cream cheese filling:
Mix together the softened cream cheese, icing sugar, flour, and vanilla. Drop teaspoons onto a lined baking sheet and freeze for at least 1 1/2 hours.


For the cookies:
Mix together the butter, 1/2 cup of white sugar, the brown sugar, the egg, the milk, and the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Mix the butter mixture with the dry ingredients, chill the dough for at least 1 1/2 hours or until firm enough to handle( I like to freeze it so that it takes less time).

Remove the cream cheese spoonfuls from the freezer, roll them into balls, then put them back into the freezer, so that they stay cold until you're ready to use them.

Roll the cookie dough into tablespoon sized balls, and make indents in the balls using your thumb. Place a cream cheese ball in each indentation and cover the cream cheese ball with another cookie dough ball. Mold the cookie dough around the cream cheese ball so that it is completely covered. The dough gets a bit sticky, but I find that wetting your hands helps keep the dough from sticking to them. Do this with the remaining dough and roll the balls in white sugar. Bake for 12-13 minutes until the edges are done with the centers are still soft. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes before removing them from the pan.

Berry balsamic salad with candied pecans

Berry Balsamic Salad with Candied Pecans:

Servings: about 6

For the Pecans:

recipe from: allrecipes

2 c. pecans halved

1/2 egg white

1/2 tbsp water

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

Whisk the egg white and water together until frothy. Add the sugar, salt, and cinnamon and mix. Mix in the pecans until evenly coated. Spread coated pecans on a baking sheet and bake at 250 degrees, stirring every 15 minutes until browned. 

For the dressing:

recipe adapted from allrecipes

3 cups of raspberries

1/3 c. balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp honey.

1/2 tbsp sugar.

1/2 tsp salt 

Mix the raspberries and sugar in a bowl and let it sit for about 10 minutes until juicy. Mash the berries thoroughly with a fork and add the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, and salt. Put the mixture in a jar and shake until well mixed. 

For the Salad: 

8 cups of lettuce

2.5 cups of sliced strawberries 

Assembly:

Add dressing until the salad a strong as you like. Toss in the strawberries and sprinkle the pecans on top.

Peanut butter brookie pie

A brookie is a cookie+ a brownie. It's a pretty deadly combo.

Brownie Layer:

Recipe adapted slightly from: Food.com

3/4 c. oil

1.5 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/4 tsp. baking powder.

1/2 cup cocoa powder.

1/4 tsp salt.

3/4 c. flour

Cookie Layer:

recipe from: Dessert Now Dinner Later:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to  350°F (177°C).

For the cookie layer:

In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and the sugar. Add the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla and mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, and add to the butter mixture until just combined. 

For the brownie layer:

Whisk together the oil, sugar, and eggs. Add the baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, and flour, and stir until combined.

Line a 9 inch cake pan with baking paper. Pour the brownie batter in. Take the cookie dough and drop/press it onto the brownie batter in whatever way or shape you like. I only ended up using about half of it and made cookies with the remaining dough.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until set. I recommend putting tin foil on top of the pan so the cookie bits don't burn. 

Fluffy yeast pancakes

These fluffy and chewy pancakes are super easy to make. They taste like a cross between pancakes and donuts, but they're a bit more substantial than your traditional pancake. 

Yeast Pancakes:
Recipe from: The Sugar Hit
Makes 12-14 small pancakes.

Ingredients:
- 1 + ½ cups flour
- 1 tsp  yeast
- 1 tbsp  sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg
butter or oil, for frying

Put all the ingredients except for the oil into a bowl and whisk together. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let it rise until double in size, about half an hour.
Put oil or butter on a frying pan and cook them the way you would cook regular pancakes.
They're best served warm.

Enjoy!

Lemon Crumb Muffins

 These muffins are light, fluffy, zesty, and have a crunchy streusel topping. This recipe only makes 7 which is good if you don't want a lot of extras lying around, but it can easily be doubled!

Lemon Crumb Muffins:
Recipe from: Baked by Rachel
{Makes 7 muffins }

Crumb Topping:
1/4 c. melted butter
3/4 c. flour
2 Tbsp. Sugar
2 Tbsp Brown sugar.

Muffins:
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. flour
1/2 c. yogurt or sour cream


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Line a muffin tin with 7 paper liners.
For the crumb topping: Mix together the melted butter, flour, and sugar with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix in the baking powder, salt, and flour. Finally, add the yogurt or sour cream.

Divide batter into the muffin tins and top with the crumb toppings

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. 

Browned Butter Snickerdoodles

What stands out about these cookies is their nutty/ toffee flavor which comes from browning the butter. They're crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and the brown sugar melts in your mouth.

Browned Butter Snickerdoodles:
recipe from: Ambitious Kitchen

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar**
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon of salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt
For rolling mixture:
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

** I didn't have cream of tartar so I omitted the cream of tartar and the baking soda, and just used 4 tsp of baking powder instead.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and whisk it constantly. The butter will turn brown and start to give off a nutty smell. At this point, remove it from the heat and let it cool slightly.  Whisk in the sugars and then add the eggs, vanilla, and yogurt.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and salt.
Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just combined. Refrigerate or freeze the dough until it is very cold. This will help the cookies keep their shape in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar, make the dough balls, and roll the balls in the sugar. Bake for 8-11 minutes until the edges are browned but the middle looks slightly underdone. 

Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake

With time off school and leftover pumpkin in the freezer, I decided to whip up these bars last night. They are loaded with spices, topped with crumble, and have a brown sugar layer in the middle that kind of melts into the cake. They're warm, soft, thick, and cakey, and it took all the self-control in me not to inhale them when I pulled them out of the oven.
I hope you enjoy this fall-themed treat in January!

Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake
recipe from: The Baker Chick

For the Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon  nutmeg
¼ teaspoon  cloves
1¼ cups light brown sugar
4 large eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
One 15-ounce can pumpkin puree ( roughly 2 cups)
½ cup  milk

For the Cinnamon Filling:
1 cup brown sugar, light or dark
1½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cocoa powder (optional)

For the Crumb Topping:
2 cups of flour
⅔ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter, melted


Mix the ingredients for the cinnamon filling together in a bowl.

Use your hands or a fork to mix together the crumb topping ingredients until crumbly.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and prepare a 9 by 13 inch pan.

Whisk together all the dry ingredients except the sugar in a large bowl. In another bowl, beat together the brown sugar and the eggs until fluffy. Add the oil, the pumpkin puree, and the milk. Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined.

Pour half the batter into the pan and then sprinkle the cinnamon filling on top. Pour the rest of the cake batter on top and then top with the crumb topping. Bake for 30 to 50 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test.

Maple Banana Blondies

Hi friends(I don't know if anyone still reads this blog)!  It's been a long time so I figured I'd do a post to keep this blog alive. These blondies are incredible. They're just cakey enough but they're also rich and gooey.

On a side note, there's a talented artist on Tumblr that really inspires me. She draws super realistic pictures of food with colored pencils, and she has a place where people can submit photos that she will then draw. A few months back I submitted a photo of those pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and she drew them! Her drawing is amazing and you can check it out here. 

Banana Blondies:

recipe from: Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen

2 c. flour

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

1 c. butter

2 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 mashed banana

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Melt the butter then whisk in the sugars, salt and the vanilla. Add the eggs. Stir in the flour and the mashed banana. Spread into a 8x 8 inch prepared baking pan and bake for 20-28 minutes or until the center is set ( they taste better slightly undercooked).

Maple glaze: 

4 tbsp butter

1 c. powdered sugar

4 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Spread the glaze onto the blondies while they're still hot.

Crusty no - knead bread

This bread recipe is very easy to make, tastes kind of like sourdough, and has a nice crust on the outside.

  Recipe slightly adapted from Simply So Good

Ingredients: 

3 c. flour

3/4 tsp. yeast

1 1/2 c. warm water

1-2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar.

In a large bowl stir together all the dry ingredients and then stir in the water until it's a shaggy dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for 8-18 hours or overnight. It will rise and have bubbles on the top.  Preheat the over to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. On a floured surface, roll the dough into a ball and let it rest. While it's resting, take a glass pot ( or a dutch oven if you have one) and put it into the over to heat up for 30 minutes. Take the bowl out of the oven, line it with baking paper, and put the dough in. Put the lid on the pot and bake for 30 minutes, then for an additional 15 without the lid. 

Enjoy! 

Polymer clay charms

It's been a while since I've really put anything up on this blog but I wanted to share some of the polymer clay charms I've made. When I was 11 and 12 I was really into making these and i still have a huge bag of stuff I've made. Last summer in Canada I bought some clay and decided to get into it again and I'm loving it! In the future I'll probably do a tutorial or step by step kind of blog post to show how to make some different things but for now these are some of the things I've made. I've learned how to do a lot of things through just random youtube searches and there's a great youtube channel called socraftastic that has a lot of tutorials as well. 

 I love these little owls. They're probably about an inch wide and really cute.

 This is probably my favorite thing I've made. His arms turned out a bit brown because my oven was on too high but I love his little hands and overalls.

 These little donuts and really easy to make and although you probably can't see in the photo, I've put eye pins into the top so you can easily make them into earrings. Each one is probably just a little bigger than my thumbnail.

These are a bunch of cupcakes + one ice cream cone. 

Here I have a book, a hot dog, two roses, a fish, and a hermit crab.

XXL double chocolate cookie

XXL double chocolate cookie:
Recipe from: Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 egg beaten
1/4 c. flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
chocolate chips

Mix together the butter and the sugar with a fork. Add the egg, then the baking soda, cocoa powder, and flour. Stir in the chocolate chips or press them onto the top.
Put the dough onto a pan with baking paper and mold into a tall ball.
Bake at 350 degrees for 14-15 minutes.
Enjoy! 

Gardening + Arugula Pesto

 I've been having a lot of fun planting stuff in our apartment lately. In the picture above there're radishes on the far left, which I haven't really picked yet since I'm not sure if they're ready. To the right there's arugula, and then I'm also growing mint, basil, cinnamon basil, and romaine which I didn't take pictures of. 

Since my arugula was so abundant, I tried making pesto! I ended up adding about a tablespoon or two of store bought pesto to the mix since mine was a little strong and not very spreadable ( the food processor broke so I was crushing it all together by hand).

Arugula Pesto:
Makes about 2/3 cup.
Recipe adapted from Recipe.com

1/2 c. nuts
1/4 c. grated parmesan
1-2  garlic cloves, finely grated
2 c. firmly packed arugula
1/2 c. olive oil
1-2 tsp. lemon juice
a pinch of salt

In a frying pan, cook the nuts over medium heat until toasted.
With a food processor combine the nuts until chopped into very small pieces and add the garlic and the parmesan. Add the arugula, lemon juice, salt, and slowly add the oil until it's as thin as desired.

Bird's nest charm

Yesterday I went to Sham Shui Po and found an amazing street filled with craft stores. They mostly sold beads, jewellery clasps, ribbons, wire, and chord, and everything was so cheap. I made this cute little charm in about 10 minutes by following this tutorial.

 Materials:
- 3 beads of your choice
- flexible wire ( I used 6mm)

1) Put 3 beads on your wire and tuck the end into the first bead so you have a little triangle.

2) Continue to wrap the wire around your bunch of beads until the nest is as thick as you like it. You can go in and around the beads as well to secure them. Then make a little loop with the wire at the top and make a few circles around the top until it's secure.
3) To make this into a necklace you could just attach a jump ring to the loop and put it on a chain.

Soft, Thick, and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's been a long time since I've blogged, but today I'm posting an unoriginal yet classic recipe. These cookies are phenomenal and stay gooey in the center ( provided you don't cook them for too long!)

 

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe from: Allrecipes

yield: about 2 dozen

3/4 c. butter, melted and cooled

1 c. brown sugar, packed

1/2 c. white sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Chocolate chips

Melt the butter and allow it to cool to room temperature. Mix together the butter and both sugars until smooth. Beat in the egg and egg yolk until creamy. Beat in the salt, baking soda, and flour until just combined and don't over mix. Stir in the chocolate chips and refrigerate the dough until firm. Roll the dough into balls and bake for 15 minutes** or until slightly browned at the edges. They should still be pretty soft and a bit undercooked when you take them out because they will firm up when they cool. This will keep them from drying out and make them soft and chewy. When you take them out, if they haven't spread out, just press the tops down with a spoon to flatten them.

** I don't know this from experience, this is just the time written on the original recipe. My oven is wonky so any time I give you probably won't work for you.

Rainbow swirl cake

My mum and I made this for my sister's birthday and used neon food coloring.

Rainbow cake:
Ingredients:
- any white cake recipe or use a box mix
- food coloring
 
Prepare your cake batter. Divide the batter into separate bowls and add food coloring to create the colors you'd like. Grease your cake pan(s) and line them with baking paper. Drop large spoonfuls of batter into the pans, alternating colors (there's a good image here of what it should look like). Don't stir. Bake for however long the recipe calls for and let the cake(s) cool before icing.

Buttercream: 
Recipe from: Six Sister's Stuff
 
- 1 c.  butter
- 1/2 c. milk
- 6-7 cups icing sugar

Beat the ingredients together. If it's too thin to spread, add more icing sugar, and if it's too thick, add more milk. Assemble and ice your cake.