Last week I got my usual at Jamba Juice: chocolate/peanut butter/banana and as I was sipping away I realized "hey, I could make this!"

So I did!

Using my base recipe I added three mashed bananas, a quarter-ish jar of peanut butter and five ounces of dark chocolate.







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Holy wow that's thick! When I was done with the sauce portion of the recipe it had the consistency of cake batter (note to self, make cake batter ice cream -NO- red velvet cake batter ice cream! *patent pending*) and then it spent the night in the fridge and a half hour in the freezer. It was at milkshake constancy before I even dropped it in the mixer! It came out thick and fluffy and ready to eat (which as you can tell by all my pictures is not always the case with my ice creams). This one is still in the process of being eaten. It's delicious, thought I guess I was a little disappointed that it tasted so similar to the Jamba Juice inspiration. I don't know what I expected it to taste like, but I thought it would be different somehow.

PS - Posting these all at once makes me look like some kind of crazy ice cream man (which my friends would say I am I guess), I actually made all these ice creams over a few weeks not a few days. I've been making 1-3 batches a week since I got the machine just cause it's so fun and easy and tasty and ice cream.

Labels: icecream, snappy

After the hot chocolate attempt I decided to give chocolate another go, this time being more common sensical about it. If I want chocolate ice cream. Just add chocolate.

So I took my base recipe and added about six ounces of melted dark chocolate (I think I tossed a scoop of cocoa powder in anyway for good measure, but I can't remember).





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Now THIS tastes like chocolate. I didn't need chocolate chips to cover up any flavor here. The only thing that happened was, since I made this less than 12 hours after I made the peach ice cream, that the mixing bowl wasn't as frozen as it should have been, so it came out more like a milkshake than ice cream and I had to refreeze it before serving. And just like real chocolate ice cream it freezes harder than vanilla. For whatever scientific reasons that may be.

Labels: icecream, snappy

Peaches and cream!

This was a test batch for a friend who requested it (I'll make it again for real in a week). I just used my "base" recipe and added half a jar of Trader Joe's Peach Sauce. Doesn't get any easier than that.







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This was easily the BEST "vanilla" style ice cream I've made and was a big hit with everyone who tried it. Can't wait to make it again.

I also learned that whipping the cream and letting the mixture chill (and even freeze a little) makes for a much better results with the ice cream maker.

Labels: icecream, snappy

A few weeks ago Gen Lekma, our resident teacher at the Buddhist center moved to Santa Barbara to start a center there. We had a pot luck goodbye party so I whipped up my tried and true Red Velvet Cupcakes.









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It's fun to show up somewhere new with a cupcake carrier. It really says "this is a man who is serious about cupcakes."

Labels: icecream, snappy

Apartment Therapy let me down on this one. Their ice cream articles are partly what inspired me to finally buy my ice cream maker but this recent recipe didn't quite work out the way you think it would.

Ingredients
1/4 cup powdered unsweetened cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 water
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups half and half (or 2 cups cream and 2 cups whole milk)
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Whisk the cocoa, sugar, water and salt together in a 2-quart saucepan. Heat over medium heat until boiling then simmer for 2 minutes. Whisk in the half and half and heat just until bubbles appear around the edges. Pour a cup of the cream mixture into the egg yolks and whisk until tempered, then add back into the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, over low-medium heat until it reaches a temperature of 170ºF.

Chill overnight and then process in an ice cream maker.

Makes 1 1/2 quarts.







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I added chocolate chips cause they're my cover-up when it comes to ice cream. Chocolate chips gloss over my mistakes. In this case they helped make up for the fact that this tasted more like hot chocolate than chocolate ice cream. At first it was really disappointing but by the time I finished it I decided it wasn't so bad. It wasn't chocolate ice cream but that doesn't mean there isn't room in the world for a hot chocolate ice cream flavor.

Labels: icecream, snappy

Tonight I went to see the pilot of Pushing Daisies at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery (review to come shortly, but it's got potential). I decided to whip up more ice cream to bring with (still had some vanilla left, but no harm in them sharing a container.

I used the same recipe as before, only this time I added 3 or 4 teaspoons of CremeDeMenthe liquor and a quarter bag of chocolate chips. A vague attempt at mint-chip.







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Much better than just plain vanilla. Not quite enough CremeDeMenthe for the kick I wanted but the hint was nice. And the alcohol almost gave it a green tea-esque aftertaste. Time to start branching out!

Labels: icecream, snappy

Anyone who knows me knows that ice cream is a big part of my life. So it's a wonder that it's taken so long for me to try making homemade ice cream.

Last week I finally made the plunge and ordered this fancy ice cream maker. For my first attempt I decided to keep it simple and just make vanilla, Apartment Therapy's been talking about ice cream all summer so I used one of their basic custardy vanillas.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions
Beat milk and eggs together in a large saucepan. Add sugar and vanilla bean or vanilla extract, and cook over medium-low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until slightly thickened and registering 170° F on a thermometer. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Remove hull of the vanilla bean, if using, and stir in cream. Pour mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl and cover surface directly with plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or up to 12 hours.

Freeze mixture in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. The mixture will not be completely hard. To finish freezing, put mixture into a lidded container, cover and allow to harden in the freezer at least 1 hour before serving.

Makes 1 quart or about 8 servings







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Not pictured: the sugar, cause I forgot that ice cream has sugar?

I doubled (tripled?) the vanilla, cause I like vanilla. And instead of refrigerating for hours before the mixing step I simply put it in the freezer for half an hour. It turned out really well, sort of sweet and custardy (guess that was the point though). I liked it a lot but I have a feeling there's a better vanilla recipe out there to be had. Still, really exciting to make my own ice cream.

I'm hooked.

Labels: icecream, snappy

I found a new peanut butter chocolate chip recipe, this one includes a frosting recipe to make sandwich cookies:

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (packed) dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/3 cups (about 8 ounces) milk chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat powdered sugar, dark brown sugar, and butter in large bowl to blend.

Add peanut butter; beat until creamy. Gradually beat in vegetable oil and vanilla extract, then egg. Add dry ingredients; mix just until blended. Stir in milk chocolate chips.

Drop cookie dough by level tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake cookies until puffed and golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool slightly, then transfer cookies to rack to cool completely.

Filling
3 ounces high-quality milk chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), chopped
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
6 tablespoons whipping cream

Place chocolate, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and kosher salt in medium bowl. Bring whipping cream to boil in heavy small saucepan. Pour hot cream over chocolate mixture; stir until mixture is melted and smooth. Chill until filling is thick and spreadable, about 1 hour.

Spread about 1 rounded teaspoonful chocolate-peanut butter filling on flat side of 1 cookie. Top with second cookie, forming sandwich. Repeat with remaining filling and cookies. (Cookie sandwiches can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)







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This might be my best peanut butter cookie recipe (minus a peanut butter/oatmeal one I have), but I totally blew the frosting. Last week, when I made banana cupcakes, I cheated in the frosting and used buttermilk in place of whipping cream, and it worked! I swear it did. But this time, instead of following the instructions and buying the right ingredients, I tried to swap again and it was a failure. The buttermilk cooked in a thick smelly kind of way and I followed it through to the end and it was just no no good. As my friend said, "well duh."

Luckily these cookies are really good and the filling wasn't a big loss. In fact, I'll probably use this recipe just for the cookies in the future, though I might try sandwich style and leave out the chocolate chips.

They're also some of the prettiest cookies I've ever baked!

Labels: icecream, snappy

A new recipe from my first and only cookbook that my friend gave me for my birthday this year, "Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans"

The recipe is supposed to be for Banana Butterscotch Cupcakes, but I like chocolate more than butterscotch.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 medium bananas broken into 1" pieces
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup buttermilk

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line 12 muffin tin cups with paper liner.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until blended and creamy, about 2 minutes with a mixer. Add the banana pieces, mixing until they are blended into the mixture; you will still see some small pieces of banana. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is blended. Add the vanilla and beat for 1 minute. On low speed, add half the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it. Mix in the buttermilk. Mix in the remaining flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter looks smooth.

Fill each paper liner with a scant 1/3 cup of batter, to about 1/4 inch below the top of the liner. Bake until the top feels firm and a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan and then remove them from the pan to cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting:

I used this recipe only I cut it in half (still too much) and skipped the corn syrup, and cocoa powder (and didn't taste any difference). Also, when I got tired of waiting for the icing to set I started added handfuls of powdered sugar to encourage it along.





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These turned out really well. Everyone liked them a lot. They tasted sort of like banana bread more than cupcakes, but it worked really well with the frosting. Will definitely be keeping this one. And I might use this recipe but swap bananas for strawberries (or even better, mix the two!) and see if it works better than my previous strawberry experiments.

Labels: icecream, snappy

Before my trip I made a batch of Mexican Chocolate Chip Cookies (which I've made before: recipe here). Now I call them Cayenne Chocolate Chip Cookies cause saying Mexican always begged the question, "what makes a cookie Mexican?" and since the answer in this recipe is cayenne pepper I figured I'd skip a step and just call them Cayenne Cookies.




This time, instead of adding the dark chocolate as chips or chunks I melted it and mixed it into the batter to create chocolate cookies (no chips). They tasted great but I sort of missed having chips, and the mix of the batter got thrown off and the cookies were very crumbly. If I actually knew about cooking beyond following recipes I would have compensated for adding the melted chocolate but I don't know how (add more flour? eggs?).

Labels: icecream, snappy

I decided it was time to bake something in my new apartment. My kitchen is smaller, but my oven is new, and since the apartment is so much smaller the smell of freshly baked cookies travels much faster.

P:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (16oz)

Directions
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or wax paper.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Lightly beat 1 egg with a fork in a small bowl and add 1 3/4 tablespoons of it plus 2 remaining whole eggs to butter mixture, beating with mixer until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and mix in flour mixture until just blended, then stir in chips.

Scoop 1/4 cup batter for each cookie, arranging mounds 3 inches apart, on 2 baking sheets. Flatten mounds into 3-inch rounds using moistened palm of your hand. Form remaining cookies on additional sheets of parchment.

Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool and continue making cookies in same manner using cooled baking sheets.

Labels: icecream, snappy

I made these for the Rebel Without A Cause cemetery screening a few weeks ago but realized I never posted them:

They're the same recipe as these brownies, only this time I added a bunch of Trader Joe's Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans.

The crunchy espresso beans were a bit odd at first, but they grew on me. Very strong though, vanilla ice cream helps.

Labels: icecream, snappy

I've made these before, you can find the recipe here. This time I took pictures:

Labels: icecream, snappy

So I've had this cupcake mix since January and decided this weekend I wanted to bake without trying too hard.

But before they were done I ate icing out of the bowl on an empty stomach and gave myself a tummy ache, so I haven't even tried these yet. I'll update tomorrow with the verdict from work.





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Verdict update. Good, a little sweet, a little processed. I think it helped that I tossed some Trader Joe's peanut butter cups in the center as a surprise (and pumpkin spice, though the taste might just be in my head).

Labels: icecream, snappy

Team Ellie is wrapped up for this year, so I was going to make something small for Night Hawks, maybe see if I could do this baking thing for profit (so far the bake sales would have been money losers if they hadn't been for charity).

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup old-fashioned chunky peanut butter (about 9 ounces)
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions
Mix flour, oats, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat peanut butter, brown sugar, butter, honey, egg and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Stir dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture in 2 additions. Stir in chopped chocolate. Cover and refrigerate until dough is firm and no longer sticky, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 heavy large baking sheets. With hands, roll 1 heaping tablespoonful of dough for each cookie into 1 3/4-inch-diameter ball. Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake cookies until puffed, beginning to brown on top and still very soft to touch, about 12 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Using metal spatula, transfer cookies to rack and cool completely. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)





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I used smooth peanut butter instead of crunchy and I didn't have honey. Also I mixed chocolate chips with a little chopped dark chocolate and some Trader Joe's mini peanut butter cups. They were tasty, but too crumbly and small to sell, so no bake sale for this Night Hawks.

Labels: icecream, snappy

Still exhausted from the bake sale I decided to keep it simple for my department's pot luck tomorrow.









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Update: The following week I used the rest of the cereal and marshmallows and tried to mix it up a bit by adding dark chocolate and creme de menthe liquor. If I do this again I'll add the mint, THEN wait till it cools some before I add the chocolate chips. Cause in this attempt I added the chocolate chips and they immediately melted creating chocolate rice krispie treats that were so strong you couldn't taste the mint. Still good, but not what I had planned.

Labels: icecream, snappy

This thread on TABB has gotten me into the habit of taking pictures of my baking progress.

For the second Team Ellie Night Hawks bakesale:

Red Velvet Cupcakes:

Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3½ cups cake flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
1½ teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2¼ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring
1½ teaspoons vanilla
1¼ cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2½ teaspoons white vinegar.

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place teaspoon of butter in each of 3 round 9-inch layer cake pans and place pans in oven for a few minutes until butter melts. Remove pans from oven, brush interior bottom and sides of each with butter and line bottoms with parchment.

2. Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.

3. Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring. (Take care: it may splash.) Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

4. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.

5. Divide batter among pans, place in oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pans 20 minutes. Then remove from pans, flip layers over and peel off parchment. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

Ingredients
16 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 pounds 10x powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Beat cream cheese and butter together in a heavy duty mixer until smooth and creamy. Slowly add the sugar 1/2 cup at a time, blending between each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Beat for about 5 minutes until very smooth. Spread between layers of cake and on top and sides.

And then I chopped up a dark chocolate bar to sprinkle on top.







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Homemade Oreos (A failed experiment, not for sale, rejects for work)

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups sll-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg

Directions
1. Set 2 racks in the middle and upper third of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or in a food processor, thoroughly mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. While mixing on low speed or pulsing, add the butter, then the egg. Beat or process until the dough is thoroughly blended and massed together.

3. Drop rounded teaspoons of batter onto parchment-lined cookie sheets at 2-inch intervals. With moistened fingers, round out the cookies and flatten them a little. Bake for 9 minutes, turning the pans once for even baking, until the cookies are set. Sit the cookie sheets on a rack to cool.

Vanilla-Cream Filling

Ingredients
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
1. Put the butter and shortening in a mixing bowl and, at low speed, gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla, until blended. Turn the mixer speed to high and beat for 2-3 minutes more, until fluffy.

2. To assemble, place teaspoon size blobs of filling onto the tops of half of the cookies. Keeping the smooth bottoms of the cookies facing up, flip the remaining cookies on top of the filling and lightly press to form sandwiches. (You can also pipe filling onto cookies using a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch tip.)





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"Supernatural" Brownies

Ingredients
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) butter, more for pan and parchment paper
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, such as muscovado
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or 3/4 cup whole walnuts, optional.

Directions
1. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking pan and line with buttered parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, or on low power in a microwave, melt butter and chocolate together. Cool slightly. In a large bowl or mixer, whisk eggs. Whisk in salt, sugars and vanilla.

2. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Fold in flour just until combined. If using chopped walnuts, stir them in. Pour batter into prepared pan. If using whole walnuts, arrange on top of batter. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until shiny and beginning to crack on top. Cool in pan on rack.







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I like this new Red Velvet recipe, it's more structurally sound for cupcakes and everyone seems to agree it tastes better than the simpler recipe I used before.

The oreos I'll try again some day. The big mistake was scooping too much dough. The recipe rises and spreads quick so they all oozed together and I had to cut the apart. I think I'll double the filling recipe too since it felt like I had to spread them thin.

Everyone liked the brownies better than I expected. I thought they were just a decent thick brownie, but they turned out to be the most popular.

Labels: icecream, snappy

:(

I used the same recipe as before. Only this time I added more strawberries and strawberry extract. It made the flavor pop, but unfortunately, it made the batter too loose (the strawberries were fresh and just washed, so they were probably holding a lot of water). I also overfilled the cups and undercooked them.

At the same time, the chocolate icing set a lot faster than before and was starting to loose it's spreadability by the time the cupcakes cooled.

The outcome was cooked cupcake batter that had poured over the cup and actually created a shell around the wrapper. But the cupcake it self was crumbly cause of the loose batter and undercooking. So when I tried to apply the thick icing, they all fell apart.

After ruining about five I finally figured out a pattern to gently icing them and peel off the batter shell. Then I put them in the fridge for a day and a half (I pulled them from the Night Hawks menu). When I brought them to work as rejects, I guess they'd dried out some, because they held their shape and everyone liked them. So it sort of worked out in the end?

Labels: comical, icecream

The last test bake before my big cook off Sunday for the bake sale Monday.

For the cupcakes:

Ingredients
3 cups (330 g) cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (8 oz or 230 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (454 g) granulated sugar
5 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (10 fl oz or 300 ml) buttermilk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and line with parchment paper two 8x2-inch (20x5-cm) pans. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cut up the butter into 1-inch pieces and place them in the large bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment or beaters. Beat for 3 minutes on MEDIUM-HIGH speed until the butter is light and creamy in color. Stop and scrape the bowl. Cream the butter for an additional 60 seconds. Add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time. Reduce the mixer speed. Stir vanilla into the buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. Mix just until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a knife. Lift up the pan with the batter, and let it drop onto the counter top to burst any air bubbles, allowing the batter to settle. Center the pans onto the lower third of the oven and let bake 45 to 50 minutes or until the cake is lightly brown on top and comes away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Note: Let the cake cool in the pan. Storage: Double wrap the cake in plastic wrap. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Yields: Two 8-inch (20-cm) cakes

For the frosting:

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups whipping cream
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
16 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon (scant) almond extract

Directions
Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts and mixture comes to simmer. Remove saucepan from heat. Add chocolate and both extracts. Whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Refrigerate frosting until slightly thickened but still spreadable, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

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I added a batch of strawberries from Trader Joe's to turn the yellow cake into strawberry cake. The strong strawberry flavor unfortunately didn't survive the cooking. So next time I'll have to add more strawberries (if I can't find strawberry extract) and my cooking buddy says almond extract to bring out the flavor. I also was very haphazard in putting the cupcake batter together cause my friends were watching Top Design and I didn't want to disturb them. You have to fill the cupcake cups to the top cause the batter didn't rise so high (maybe my fault in making them).

The only thing I did different in the icing is skip the almond extract cause I didn't have any. The icing takes a long time to set to a point where it's spreadable. I put it in the fridge and the freezer and after an hour gave up and just poured them on the cupcakes while they were still runny. They didn't taste great (warm cupcake with runny icing). But I put them in the fridge over night and the next day the icing was solid and they tasted a lot better. So I think I am going to use them for the show.

Labels: icecream

Trying more recipes before the Team Ellie bake sale on Monday.

Ingredients
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups mint chocolate chips (about 12 ounces)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan, knocking out excess flour.

In a heavy 1 1/2-quart saucepan melt butter, unsweetened chocolate, and 1/2 cup mint chocolate chips over low heat, stirring, until smooth and remove pan from heat. Cool mixture 10 minutes and stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon until mixture is glossy and smooth. Stir in flour, salt, and remaining cup chocolate chips until just combined.

Spread batter evenly in pan and bake in middle of oven 25 to 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering to it. Cool brownies completely in pan on a rack before cutting into thirty-two 2- by 1-inch bars. Brownies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container at cool room temperature, 5 days.

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I used Trader Joe's mint chocolate UFOs.

My friends review: "the way you bake, Matt, it's a good thing you like fat girls."

:)

Labels: icecream

I had eggs left over from the butter cookies (and Trader Joe's pumpkin bread the night before), so I figured I'd try a new recipe tonight to use them up. Also I'm going to try baking for the concert my friends are hosting in a few weeks. Proceeds from my goodies will go to Team Ellie.

Recipe from Epicurious:

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then vanilla. Sift next 6 ingredients over butter mixture; beat just until blended. Mix in chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough until cold, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto sheets, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake cookies until golden brown but still soft to touch, about 10 minutes (for crisper cookies, bake 12 minutes). Let stand on sheets 3 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool.

Makes about 30.

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I added a bit of cayanne as per the comments off Epicurious. My only other change was mixing half milk chocolate chips with chopped dark chocolate. I'm wondering now if I should have left it all milk chocolate though as they're a bit harsh. Maybe in a good way? We'll see tomorrow when I take them to work. Not that my department is a very critical one when it comes to free cookies.

Labels: icecream

Last night I attempted to mimic my Yaya's butter cookies using this recipe from allrecipes.com:

Recipe yield: 4 dozen
Prep Time: 10 Min ~ Cook Time: 10 Min ~ Ready In: 20 Min

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar for rolling

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and egg until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Blend in the flour to form a dough. you may have to knead by hand at the end. Take about a teaspoon of dough at a time and roll into balls, logs or 'S' shapes. Place cookies 1 to 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned and firm. Allow cookies to cool completely before dusting with confectioners' sugar.

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I skipped the almond extract and just gave it a full teaspoon of vanilla. Other than that though, I followed the bouncing ball. I was probably rolling mine a bit large as I didn't get four dozen out of the deal. They weren't my Yaya's cookies. Hers have a bit more butter and some sort of glaze (where as these are dry with powdered sugar). But everyone really enjoyed them, so it worked out anyway. My mom thinks she has Yaya's recipe around somewhere so I'll get to try these again soon.

Labels: icecream