Homemade Samoa Girl Scout Cookies

Jax made these April 2014.  A little different from Mom's cookies....
source: http://www.justataste.com/2013/02/homemade-samoas-girl-scout-cookies-recipe/

Yield: 4 dozen (2-inch) cookies || Prep time: 2 hours (includes chilling)  || Cook time: 15 min.

Ingredients:

For the cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the coconut topping:
3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
15 ounces store-bought or homemade soft caramels
3 Tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces dark chocolate (See Kelly's Notes)

Directions:

Make the cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In three increments, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter, mixing between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the milk and vanilla extract, blending until combined and the dough begins to come together in large pieces.

Use your hands to divide the dough in half, pressing it together to compact it into two disks. Wrap the disks securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate them until firm, about 1 hour.

Once the dough has chilled, roll each disk out onto a lightly floured surface until it is 1/8-inch thick. Cut out as many cookies as possible with a doughnut-shaped cookie cutter. (See Kelly's Notes for cookie cutter alternatives.) Place the cut-out cookies on a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet half-way through, until the cookies are pale golden brown. Transfer the cookies to a wire wrack to cool completely.

Make the coconut topping:

Spread the coconut flakes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the coconut for about 10 minutes in a 350ºF oven until toasted, stirring frequently to ensure even browning and so that it does not burn. (See Kelly's Notes.) Remove the toasted coconut from the oven and set it aside.

Melt the caramels, milk and salt in a double-boiler by placing the caramels in a medium saucepot set over a large saucepot of simmering water. Cook, stirring, until the caramels are fully melted. Remove the saucepot from the heat and combine 3/4 of the caramel with the toasted coconut in a large bowl.

Carefully spread the remaining 1/4 cup of caramel atop the cooled cookies then press on a portion of the coconut mixture. Let the cookies cool for 30 minutes. If the caramel-coconut mixture thickens too much at any point while pressing it onto the cookies, return it to the double-boiler and warm it until it's spreadable again.

Melt the dark chocolate in a double-boiler or in the microwave. Dip the bottoms of the cookies in the chocolate and place them on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Use a fork to drizzle the tops with chocolate. Let the cookies sit until the chocolate hardens fully.

Kelly's Notes:

If you don't have a doughnut-shaped cookie cutter, you can use two cookies cutters (such as a circular 2-inch and a circular 1-inch) to form the ring shape. Alternately, you can use the caps to any dry spices to serve as cookie cutters.

If the dough is too firm to roll out after being refrigerated, let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before rolling and cutting out the cookies.

The shortbread should be very pale golden in color. When in doubt, underbake it!

If using dark chocolate chips, 8 ounces is equal to about 1 1/3 cups chocolate chips.

Coconut burns very quickly, so keep an eye on it and stir often!

Spreading the cookies with the reserved 1/4 cup of caramel gives the coconut mixture a stickier base to adhere to.

Pizookie

1 stick butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Melt butter.  Add granulated sugar and brown sugar to melted butter, and stir. Add vanilla.  After you've mixed well, add your egg and whisk with a fork.

3. Add flour, baking soda and salt.  Mix well, making sure dough is even.

4. Add your chocolate; or any other ingredients you wish. 

5. Place prepared dough in round cake pan and bake for 15-20 minutes. 

6. Let cool for 3-5 minutes.  Top with a few scoops of vanilla bean ice cream, and enjoy!!

Mini Cupcakes w/ Lemon Buttercream Frosting

These were so tasty. You can use whatever white cake recipe you like and garnish however you like. But the really yummy part was the lemon frosting. Here's the recipe:

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
8 tbsp butter
4 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest

Directions:
Place butter and 1 cups of powdered sugar in mixing bowl. Blend with electric mixer on low speed to incorporate, 30 seconds. Add remaining powdered sugar alternately with 2 tbsp milk and lemon juice, blending with mixer on low. Stir in lemon zest. Add another tbsp of milk if frosting is too stiff. Increase mier speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, one minute more.

I think I played with the exact proportions slightly -- added a little more lemon juice I think. It was delicious!

Triple Berry Trifle

I made a dozen of these for a group of kids who went to Mormon Prom. It consisted of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, lemon pudding, pink whipped cream, white cake, vanilla wafers drizzled in chocolate, and coconut sprinkled on top.

Chocolate Chip Brownies

These were delicious!
Ingredients:

Oil or butter for greasing pan

1/2 cup almonds, hazelnuts, or walnuts

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

12 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch slices

6 oz unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of 8- or 9-inch pan. Put nuts in a food processor and process until finely ground. Add the flour and salt, and pulse a few times to combine.

2. Put butter and chocolate in large saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until they melt and the mixture is smooth. (Or combine in microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted). Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Beat together eggs and vanilla in a small bowl, then add egg mixture to saucepan and stir to combine. Stir in first the flour mixture, then chocolate chips, and transfer batter to greased pan.

3. Bake until the brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. Cool thoroughly before removing from the pan and serving. (The brownies will keep for a few days wrapped in foil or parchment paper at room temperature.)

Notes:

- This recipe is from: http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/02/08/the_richest_fudgiest_brownies_a_recipe_with_chocolate_chips_and_ground_nuts.html

- When I make these again, I'll use a rectangle pan; this is solely based on my personal preferrence. The square pan made for pretty thick brownies.

- I used some milk chocolate chips and some semisweet.

Seriously, these were really good!

Molten Chocolate Cakes

Ingredients:
2 tbsp + 3/4 cup butter, divided
8 oz of bittersweet chocolate (I used semisweet)
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425. Generously butter six 6-oz ramekins or custard cups with two tbsp of butter.
2. Stir 3/4 cup butter and chocolate in medium saucepan over low heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Beat eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl until thick and pale yellow, about 8 minutes. Fold 1/3 of chocolate mixture into egg mixture. Fold in remaining chocolate mixture and flour until well blended. Divide batter evenly among prepared ramekins. Place in oven.

3. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until sides are set and 1-inch centers move slightly when shaken. Remove from oven to wire rack.

4. To serve, run a thin knive around top edge of cakes to loosen slightly; carefully invert onto serving plates. Lift ramekins off of cakes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

Notes: Be careful not to cook too long. I served this directly out of the dish -- I did not remove them onto a plate. These are delicious with vanilla ice cream!

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes

a.) They are very tasty.  I got rave reviews.

b.) They are supposed to be cute.  Mine really weren't.  (What's new?)

::What it's supposed to look like.  Nice and flat and smooth on top:: What mine looked like.  Cracked and sunken in the middle.  I don't know why that looks so yellow.  They weren't terribly yellow::

c.) To avoid the cracking and sinking, use a water bath.  I think this would remedy the problem.

d.) Use normal-size cupcake tins.  If you'd like to use mini ones, the cooking time is shorter.  I made 5 mini ones and the cooking time was about 14 minutes or so.
e.) I got them from here.... http://annies-eats.com/2010/08/06/raspberry-swirl-cheesecake-cupcakes/ 

Yield: 32 (normal size) cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1½ cups graham cracker crumbs

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

3 tbsp. sugar

For the raspberry swirl:

6 oz. fresh raspberries

2 tbsp. sugar

For the filling:

2 lbs. cream cheese, at room temperature

1½ cups sugar

Pinch of salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1.)  Preheat the oven to 325˚ F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar.  Stir together with a fork until well blended and all the dry ingredients are moistened.  Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner.  (I like to use a small drinking glass to easily and evenly press the crumbs down.) Bake until just set, 5 minutes.  Transfer to a cooling rack.

2.)  To make the raspberry puree, combine the raspberries and sugar in a blender or food processor.  Process until smooth, then pour through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds.

3.) To make the cheesecake, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy.  Blend in the sugar until smooth.  Mix in the salt and vanilla.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

4.) To assemble, spoon 3 tablespoons of the cheesecake batter over the crust in each cupcake liner.  Dot a ½ teaspoon of the raspberry puree in a few dots over the cheesecake filling.  Use a toothpick or a wooden skewer to lightly swirl and create a marbled effect.

5.) Bake until the filling is set, about 22 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  (They will look quite puffed initially but will return to normal quickly.)  Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.  Transfer to the refrigerator and let chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Costco-esque Chocolate Muffins

My verdict: Very tasty and chocolatey.  I haven't had a Costco muffin in a long time, so I can't vouch for it tasting like that... but I think it's very possible.  I made this to go with dinner one night, but I feel like it's almost too dessert-y for that.  I froze some of the leftovers so maybe I'll use them for an after-dinner snack one day.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cups cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 cup milk (I used skim)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2-1 cup chocolate chips

In a small bowl, remove two tablespoons of flour from the 2 1/4 cups (now 2 cups and 2 tablespoons remains) and mix with the chocolate chips. Set aside

In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a different bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips/flour mixture.

Fill lined cupcake pans 2/3 full with batter.Bake at 325 degrees for 18-24 minutes. Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on wire racks. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

whoopie pie

1 pkg devil's food cake mix

2 beaten eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup flour

Mix all ingredients until well blended.  Dough will be stiff.  Roll into 1/2 inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet.  Flatten the cookie ball out.  Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes...do not over bake!

Filling:

4 oz. cream cheese softened

2 Tbsp butter softened

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients in bowl.  Fill cookies with a spoonful of frosting and enjoy.

(I know some frosting recipes make WAY too much... this amount of frosting is actually very proportionate and made a good amount.)

S'more Bars

A pro pic:: Our pic.  You get the idea.

Notes: 
1.) 5 regular Hershey's milk chocolate bars = 215 grams of chocolate
2.) When you have to spread the fluff onto the chocolate, use a metal spoon dipped in cold water.  It is MUCH easier.
3.) It may be easier to flatten the top layer of dough, and then placing on top of the fluff.  Or roll it, cut into strips, and lay on top.

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
215 grams chocolate, chopped
2 cups marshmallow fluff (half of a 16-oz container)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Great an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  In a small bowl, which together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt.  Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

Divide dough in half and press half of the dough in an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the chocolate over the dough, no more than 1/4 inch thick.  Spread chocolate with marshmallow fluff.

Place the remaining dough in a single layer on the top of the fluff.  See notes for tips on the best way of doing this.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until lightly golden.  Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Found this... makes enough to fit a 13x9 dish... just in cash you need more.  All directions and cooking temp/time are the same.

3/4 cup of butter (1 1/2 sticks) room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar*

2 large eggs*

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 2/3 cup all purpose flour

2 cups graham cracker crumbs*

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 giant sized milk chocolate bars (I used Hershey’s)

1 7.5 oz jar of marshmallow fluff (or more if you want a thicker layer of marshmallow)

*Healthy Swaps: I used 3/4 cup of sugar as opposed to 1 full cup, egg whites instead of whole eggs (2 egg whites per egg called for), and I crushed Low Fat graham crackers for my graham cracker crumbs.

Cookies n' Cream Cupcakes

Ingredients:

18 chocolate sandwich cookies (I used more, 25-30ish plus cookies I put on top)

1 pkg white cake mix w/ pudding

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

2 cups heavy whipping cream

sugar or powdered sugar (not included in original recipe, but I added it)

Directions:

1. Place chocolate sandwich cookies in food processor and process until you have crumbs. You should have 2 1/4 cups crumbs. If not, process more cookies until you have correct amount. Set aside.

2. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the over to 350. Grease cupcake tins or line with cupcake liners.

3. Place cake mix, water, oil, and eggs in large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop and scrape down sides of bowl with spatula, Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down sides again if needed. Batter should look well combined. Fold in 1 cup of cookie crumbs until well distributed. Divide batter evenly (you'll probably get 20-24 cupcakes).

4. Place a clean, large mixing bowl and clean electric mixer beaters in fridge while cupcakes bake.

5. Bake cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18-22 minutes. Remove tins from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from tin and cool completely before frosting, at least 30 minutes.

6. Prepare whipped cream: Remove chilled bowl and beaters from fridge. Pour cream into bowl (I added a few heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar; add sugar to taste if you like) and beat with electric mixer on high speed until forms stiff peaks, 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes. Gently fold in 1 cup of remaining cookie crumbs, distributing them well. Chill whipped cream until cupcakes have cooked completely.

7. Frost cupcakes. Sprinkle cupcakes with any extra cookie crumbs.

A Slight Variation on Homemade Samoas

So, Mom gets credit for the main concept here. But, basically, you take a Lorna Doone shortbread cookie, smush some caramel on top of it, and then dip in chocolate. Mom usually sprinkles toasted coconut on top (hence the likeness to Samoas), but I changed things up, sprinkling chopped pecans on some, and drizzling others with white chocolate.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

This is a pretty good cookie recipe.  It tastes like an oatmeal cookie with a hint of cinnamon, but still has the chocolate cookie taste.  

This recipe makes about 2 1/2 dozen... I think.  After eating some dough, I had to guess.  

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients using a wooden spoon. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sunburst Lemon Bars

Okay, so I'm not sure if these taste like other lemon bars because, quite frankly, I don't even remember the last time I had one.  But I can tell you that they were goood.

The one thing I did different:

I didn't want a big cake pan full of lemon bars sitting at my house, waiting for me when I came home from work, hungry and with no prepared dinner.  So, I halved the recipe and cooked it in a bread loaf pan.  It worked out quite nicely, made the bars a good thickness, and made just enough for us to enjoy a few each. 

Ah, and I think that if you click on "Sunburst Lemon Bars" you can see where I got the recipe from- my ward RS blog. 

Sunburst Lemon Bars

Base

2 cups flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter

Filling

4 eggs, slightly beaten

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 cup lemon juice

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all base ingredients; beat at low speed until crumbly. Press mixture evenly in bottom of ungreased 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until light golden brown.

Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine all filling ingredients except lemon juice; blend well. Stir in 1/4 cup lemon juice.

Remove pan from oven; pour filling over warm base. Return to oven; bake at 350 for an additional 25-30 minutes or until top is light golden brown. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled.

In small bowl, combine 1 cup powdered sugar and enough lemon juice for desired glazing consistency; blend until smooth. Glaze cooled bars. Place pan in refrigerator until firm. Cut into bars.

Mango Banana Strawberry Pop

Mango Banana Strawberry Pop!

1 large mango

1 banana

frozen strawberries (a handful - 5 or 6?)

fat-free, plain yogurt - about 1/2 to 3/4 cup (or use vanilla if you want the popsicle to be sweeter)

V8 Splash Tropical Colada Smoothie - about 1/2 cup (I wanted to buy mango nectar, but the store didn't have it, so I ended up with this, and it worked out well)

Combine ingredients in blender. Freeze. Enjoy. That simple.

sweet stuff!

I think everyone has these recipes, so I'm just posting a few pictures!


Mother's Day Truffles



Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting -- 3 layers with sweet cream in the middle

Caramel and chocolate covered pretzels

White chocolate raspberry cupcakes

Banana Blueberry Swirl Popsicles

Ingredients:

3-4 ripe bananas (1 lb)

1 1/2 cups yogurt

3 Tablespoons sugar

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 cup fresh blueberries

1. In the bowl of a food processor, puree bananas until smooth. Add yogurt, sugar, and lemon juice; pulse to combine. Remove half of the yogurt mixture; set aside.
2. Add blueberries to processor, and pulse until just combined. Layer blueberry and reserved yogurt mixtures into ten 1/3 cup ice-pop molds. Using a wooden skewer, swirl the two flavors together. Insert ice-pop sticks. Transfer to freezer until frozen, about 8 hours
3. Dip molds quickly in hot water to unmold.