Kitchen Sink Cookies

Posted on August 17, 2009 by kitchenbelle

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On Saturday I attended the Healthy Living Summit for Bloggers.  As part of the event, the planners organized a Team in Training bake sale silent auction where all proceeds benefitted the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  As my contribution to the bake sale I made Kitchen Sink Cookies.  (I also made a second batch for my sister-in-law’s 30th birthday!) 

They are called Kitchen Sink Cookies because in them is “everything but the kitchen sink.”  I used Martha Stewart’s recipe and found it to be nice and adaptable so go ahead and swap cookie condiments you like with those you don’t.  (Or just use whatever you have on hand!) 

I decided to use oatmeal, semi-sweet mini-chocolate chips, milk chocolate chunks, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, mini-M&Ms, and currants.   Martha called for coconut and walnuts, which I omitted.  If you are going to make these cookies on the smaller side of the cookie spectrum you may want to use mini-sized cookie condiments like mini-chocolate chips, mini-M&Ms and currants instead of raisins.  However if you are going to make monster cookies the full-size cookie condiments work well.  The idea is that each bite contains a little bit of each ingredient.  If you make small cookies using full size M&Ms, the entire cookie could end up with two big M&Ms and nothing else!    

I really enjoy foods that have lots of texture and “chunks” so these cookies were right up my alley!  (I may or may not have eaten more than one of these cookies before wrapping them…cookies go down so easily!)  I wrapped these in the same way I wrapped the Better than Brownie Cookie Peanut Butter Sandwiches.

Kitchen Sink Cookies:

  •  1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon  baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup mini M&Ms
  • 1 cup butterscotch chips
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1 cup currants

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper.

In a large bowl with a wooden spoon (or in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment) beat butter, sugar and brown sugar together until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Stir in vanilla.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually stir into butter mixture until well blended.  Remove bowl from mixer and add oats, chips, M&Ms, and currants.  Stir until well blended.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto silpat about 2 inches apart. Press tops down with the bottom of a glass to flatten cookies evenly. Bake until golden, about 16 to 18 minutes. Cool on pan for 2 minutes. Remove from pan, and finish cooling completely on wire rack.

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Adapted from recipe found here on Martha Stewart.com.

Filed under: candy, chocolate, cookies, Dessert, oatmeal | 9 Comments »

Cookies and Cream Cake

Posted on August 4, 2009 by kitchenbelle

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I made the above Cookies and Cream Cake on the same day that I made the Cookies and Cream Fire Engine Birthday Cake below.  You see, a small group in my office organized a bake-off and this cake was my submission to the finals.  It just so happened to be the same day as my nephew’s birthday, which worked out perfectly.  I was able to bake the first cake in the morning as sort of a trial run (and to get the extremely important feedback from our family!) and then come home and bake this cake for the bake-off.  Make sense?  So while I didn’t really make any adjustments the first time around, I decided to do one part differently the second time.  Instead of only incorporating one layer of filling between the two cakes, I sliced both cakes in half so that there were three layers of filling (plus on top).  YUM. 

In this case, I didn’t have to make extra filling because I had leftover filling that I did not use on top of the fire engine cake.  However, if you are going to make the cake into four layers I suggest making one and a half times the filling recipe below. 

And now I am sure you are just dying to know the result of the bake-off…wellllll…I won!  Thank you Annie!

Cookies and Cream Cake:

For the cake:

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup Hershey’s cocoa powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup boiling water

For the filling:

  • 1 ¼ cups heavy cream
  • 1/8 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 10-20 chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreos!),  chopped 

For the frosting:

  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 2/3 cup Hershey’s cocoa powder
  • 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 F.  Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch round baking pans.

Stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).  Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.  Cool completely.

 To make the filling, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla.  Beat on low speed until all sugar is incorporated; increase speed to high and whisk until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold in chopped cookie pieces with a rubber spatula.

 To make the frosting, melt the butter in a medium bowl.  Stir in the cocoa.  Alternately add confectioners’ sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.  Add small amount additional milk, if needed.  Stir in vanilla.

 To assemble the cake, slice two cakes in half cross-wise using a serrated knife.  Place one cake layer on a cardboard cake circle.  Pipe a ring of the chocolate frosting around the outside edge of the cake.  Fill the area inside the ring of frosting with a thick layer of the cookies and cream mixture.  Repeat with remaining layers. Place the last cake layer on top.  Frost the sides of the cake layers with chocolate frosting.  Pipe a decorative border of the chocolate frosting on top of the cake.  Fill the area inside this border with a thick layer of the cookies and cream mixture.  Garnish with extra chocolate sandwich cookies and chocolate frosting.

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Adapted from Annie’s Eats.

Filed under: cake, chocolate, cookies, Dessert, frosting, icing | 10 Comments »

Cookies and Cream Fire Engine Birthday Cake

Posted on August 3, 2009 by kitchenbelle

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Is it me, or does it seem like it was just yesterday that a certain adorable little guy turned one and we celebrated with monkey cakes?  His auntie is finding herself quite nostalgic—he is growing up so  fast!  I remember the details of the day he was born and the first time I saw him like it happened this morning. And then woooosh.  Two years pass and our little bug is running around, jumping on the sofa, “vrooom vroooming” his trucks, hugging (and kissing!) little girls, playing dress up, riding a trike, and capturing our hearts over and over with each little smile, giggle, and silly voice.

(I’d better move on to discussing the cake before I am a weeping mess!)

I made this year’s fire truck cake using  Annie’s Cookies and Cream recipe.  The one and only adjustment I made is that I did not top the cake with the filling.  (I needed a place for a shiny red fire truck!) 

I found this cake to be exceptionally rich, moist, and delicious!

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Filed under: cake, chocolate, cookies, Dessert, frosting, icing | 3 Comments »

Better than Brownie Cookie Peanut Butter Sandwiches

Posted on July 24, 2009 by kitchenbelle

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Yum, yum, yum, yum!  The classic combination of chocolate and peanut butter is successful yet again!  These cookie sandwiches are chewy, rich, and delicious.  Be wary of the urge to overfill–just a thin layer of peanut butter filling will do.  Overfill and you run the risk of (1) a treat that is too sweet and (2) the frosting squeezing out the sides. 

Enjoy!

Some notes:

–This cookie  recipe made about 55 small cookies (about 1/2 tablespoon of dough each), which I sandwiched together to make about 27 sandwich cookies.  (To make about 25 large cookies use about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough for each.)

–Parchment paper or a silpat (a non-stick baking mat) are a must here. 

–I used a combination of dark chocolate and milk chocolate (about half and half) to yield a rich, yet not overpowering chocolaty flavor.

–I used a bit less baking powder than the recipe below indicates so that my cookies would be a little thinner and less poofy.

–I doubled the peanut butter filling recipe and ended up with some leftover. 

Better than Brownie Cookie Peanut Butter Sandwiches:

 Better than Brownie Cookies

  • 2 2/3 cups (466g) dark chocolate, chopped
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

Melt the chopped chocolate with the butter in a small saucepan over low heat – stir constantly until smooth. Mix eggs, vanilla and sugar in a medium bowl. Combine thoroughly. Set aside.

Sift flour and baking powder together in a small bowl.

Add melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and slowly add dry ingredients. When combined, add the cup of chocolate chips and stir.

Scoop dough (more like batter!) onto prepared sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they are firm on the outside (dough loses its sheen). Leave to cool completely on sheets.

Peanut Butter Filling

  • 3 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

In a stand mixer (or using a hand mixer) cream 3 tablespoons butter  with the confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, and the cream. Fill the filling into a pastry bag and squeeze  filling onto half of the cooled cookies, then top with the other half to form sandwiches.

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Cookie recipe adapted from Culinography.  Peanut butter filling adapted from Savory Sweet Life.

Filed under: brownies, chocolate, cookies, Dessert, frosting, Peanut Butter | 16 Comments »

Chocolate Easter Egg Cupcakes

Posted on April 11, 2009 by kitchenbelle

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HAPPY EASTER! 

I hope the Easter Bunny left you a basket overflowing with Cadburys and peanut butter filled chocolate eggs!

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For Christmas my brother-in-law and sister-in-law gave me this book called Hello, Cupcake!  If you haven’t seen it yet, you must check it out.  The cupcakes in this book are legitimate pieces of art work, and I must say, a little intimidating!  I knew, though, back in December that I wouldn’t be able to resist attempting these Easter Egg Cupcakes!  I’ve had the page marked for four months! 

The gist of the recipe is this: 

  1. Bake chocolate cupcakes (I used Joanne Chang’s Flour Bakery Chocolate Cupcake Recipe)
  2. Trim a graham cracker to the shape of an egg
  3. “Glue” the graham cracker to the top of the cupcake using a dollop of frosting
  4. Decorate the cracker with frosting and sprinkles

The problem was this:  Each attempt at “trimming” a graham cracker resulted in a broken graham cracker.  My mom and I brainstormed and settled on the perfect solution—to bake sugar cookies cut out in the shape of eggs and use those in place of the “trimmed” graham crackers!  And that is exactly what I did.  It worked out perfectly.  And these cupcakes were so fun to decorate!  I love the bright colors!  And as always, this chocolate cupcake recipe yielded 12 rich, moist, chocolaty, delicious cupcakes.  

chocolate cupcake + sugar cookie + frosting + sprinkles = easter bunny heaven   

Chocolate Easter Egg Cupcakes (Flour Bakery Recipe):

  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop chocolate and place it in a bowl with the cocoa powder. Mix butter, water and sugar in a pan over medium high heat. Whisk until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Pour hot butter mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until chocolate melted and ingredients are combined.  Whisk the egg, milk, and vanilla extract together then whisk into the chocolate mixture until combined.  Sift the dry ingredients together.  Pour the dry ingredients onto the wet ingredients. Whisk  until the dry ingredients are totally mixed into the chocolate mixture.  Let stand about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, line muffin tin with liners and then pour the batter (or use an ice cream scoop) into the muffin cups, dividing batter evenly among the 12 cups.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 26-29 minutes. Cool in tin on rack for 15 minutes. 

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Recipe adapted from Hello, Cupcake! and Flour Bakery Chocolate Cupcakes.

Filed under: chocolate, cookies, cupcakes, Dessert, frosting | 1 Comment »

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