Category: Baking

Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Today was one of the worst days ever.  I’m not going to talk about.  Instead I’m going to talk about cookies.

Fact: Cookies make life better.

There’s something I really love about a plate of cookies.   No it doesn’t matter what kind of cookies.  I just sorta find them pretty.

I gave these away.  The next day I received a few texts telling me they were popular with co-workers.  I won’t lie, I was sorta kicking myself for giving them away.  As I wrote this post, all I wanted was one of these cookies.  That’s what happens when you have a stressful day: you want cookies.

From what I recall, they were a little bit cakey (but less so than your average pumpkin cookie, which always seems more like a muffin top to me) and chewy.  I’m pretty sure that means they’re good.  Cakey but chewy?  Done.  I want it again.

Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 cup chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.  Set aside.  Cream together butter, pumpkin puree, sugars and egg yolk.  Mix in dry ingredients until just combined.  Fold in Chocolate chips.

Form dough into golf ball-sized balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden on the edges.  Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from baking sheet.

Put on a plate and make someone’s day that much better.

Fall Cupcakes: Gingerbread Cupcakes with Caramel Filling and Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Frosting

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You all remember the Fall Cake, right?

Inspired by my time spent working at a bakery… One layer of pumpkin cheesecake, another layer of gingerbread cake, caramel pecans in between and on top, then covered in vanilla buttercream.

That was it a little too intense for me to make that often.  So if you’re looking for the perfect fall dessert, that isn’t super complicated but will likely impress people, this is it.

Okay so it requires a lot of steps, but I promise it’s not that complicated and super delicious in the end.

Fall Cupcakes

for Gingerbread Cupcakes (adapted from Food Network’s Gingerbread cake)

1 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
1/4-1/3 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped (plus more for garnish)
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup boiling water

For Caramel Filling:

1 cup sugar
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
pinch of salt

For Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Icing

8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 tbsp butter, softened
4 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 lb powdered sugar (note you might need more depending on how sweet you like it)
dash of cinnamon
dash of ground ginger (or just use pumpkin pie spice)

Start my making the cupcakes.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Combine the sugar, oil, molasses and eggs in a large bowl.  Stir in crystallized ginger.  Add dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, spices), mix until almost combined.  Stir in boiling water.  Pour into cupcake pan lined with baking cups.  Fill only a little past half way.  This is sort of crucial.  If you over fill the pan, you get this:

Sad sunken in cupcake.  Not cute.

So fill them a little more than half way and bake them for about 15 minutes (mine took 14 mins) or until they pass the toothpick test.

Next make your caramel filling.  Heat sugar in a deep saucepan, until the sugar melts.  Once the sugar is a deep golden brown, take it off the heat and quickly stir in butter.  Once the butter is melted in there, add a pinch of salt and stream in the cream as you stir.  Keep stirring until smooth.  Set aside to cool.

At this point, your cupcakes and caramel need to cool completely.  In the meantime, go for a walk, rake some leaves (this really doesn’t apply to you if, like me, live in California…), call a friend, paint your nails, go to the gym, listen to Beyonce and dance a little bit, you get the idea…

Then come back and make the pumpkin-cream cheese icing.  It’s super easy, all you need is a hand or stand mixer.  Throw all the ingredients together and let the machine do the work.  Truth be told this frosting is delicious but not super stiff (that’s what she said).  You can add more powdered sugar if you’d like but I can only take so much sugar, it definitely hardens in the fridge but your piping might not be as beautiful as you’d like.  Oh well, it’s delicious.  Stick it in the fridge while you prep your cupcakes.

Now you can assemble!  Filling a cupcake with caramel is easy.  There are two ways to do it, but both ways involve putting your cooled caramel in a ziploc bag and cutting off the corner to create a make-shift piping bag.  Then you can either:

1. Take a knife and hole in the top and scoop some of the cupcake out.  Then take the “piping bag” and pipe some caramel into it.

2. Shove your finger into the top of each cupcake while they’re still warm.  Same effect.  It creates a hole.  I sorta like this method… some people might have an issue with it.  Obviously, please wash your hands before doing this 🙂 Then pipe in the caramel.

Once you’ve filled all your cupcakes with caramel.

Frost them as you’d like, either with a piping bag and tip or just a knife.  Both look lovely.  Either way garnish with some slices of crystallized ginger.

I swear these taste better the next day.  I don’t know what it is, but true story.  Would I lie to you?  Either way, we’re well into October and speeding into November.

That probably means you should give these cupcakes a try.

Almond-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Did you hear that chocolate may reduce women’s risk of stroke?  In case you really needed a reason to eat more chocolate, now you have one.

I’m only looking out for you, and because I love you so much and I don’t want you to have a stroke, I’m going to share some ways you can eat more chocolate.

Like this

Champagne Brownies

Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes

Double Chocolate Coconut Cookies

Chocolate Wine Cake

Oh and don’t forget these

Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Filling, Cream Cheese Frosting and Sea Salt Candied Walnuts

And most recently this:

Almond-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup almond butter (I used maple almond butter)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, heaping
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup oats
3/4 cup chocolate chips (or more, if you’d like)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream together butter, almond butter, and sugars.  Beat in egg.  Add dry ingredients (except oats) and blend together.  Fold in oats and chocolate chips.

Place balls of dough on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on your oven, or until golden on the edges.  The center will be slightly undercooked but don’t forget they keep cooking even after you take them out of the oven, not to mention a slightly undercooked center is delicious.

I’ll be honest, these were amazing because of the texture.  Although I sort of wish I had used PB instead of almond butter, or maybe added some almond extract in there, and coconut.  Yes, coconut would have been divine. 

But really, the chocolate will suffice, after all that’s all that really matters right now.

So be healthy and go make some Almond-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and eat a few handfuls of chocolate chips while you’re at it.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Filling, Cream Cheese Frosting and Sea Salt Candied Walnuts

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Did you see that title?  Yeah, it’s intense.

I have a little bit of a confession though.  I wasn’t going to blog about these.  Not because they aren’t good.  No, no.  They are the most amazing things ever.  But because I wasn’t happy with the photos.  You see, prior to my full time employment, I had time to bake in the morning and take photos in daylight.  Now that I work all day, baking happens at night (unless it’s the weekend of course).

In case you’re not really into taking pictures… pictures look better when taken in natural light.  Truth. I was even tempted to make these again this morning just so I could take pretty pictures in the sunlight! But in the end, laziness (or health consciousness?) prevailed.

That said, nothing is going to change the fact that these are amazing.

Not even a mediocre pictures.

Next time you have a gathering or just really need something sweet, please make these.  They’re wonderful.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Filling, Cheese Cheese Frosting and Sea Salt Candied Walnuts

1 recipe for your favorite chocolate cupcakes (I like Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Cake)
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
2 sticks of butter, softened
Few cups of powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 sugar
1 tsp coarse sea salt

Bake cupcakes and allow to cool completely.  While they are baking, you can make the caramel filling.  Place sugar in a deep saucepan on medium heat.  Allow the sugar to melt (about 10 minutes), stir occasionally until the sugar is a golden brown color.  Remove from heat and immediately stir in butter.  Once butter is mixed in, stream in cream while you stir.  Stir until all combined and smooth.  Set aside to cool.  You can make this a day in advance if you like. Once the caramel is completely cooled, place into a ziploc bag (or a piping bag, if you’re fancy) and cut off one corner so you can pipe caramel.

Next, make the cream cheese frosting.  Using a stand or hand mixer, blend together cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla.  I say a few cups of powdered sugar because 1. I never measure and 2. you should use as much as is necessary to get the consistency and amount of sweetness you like.  I’m guessing I used about 6 cups?  Once your cream cheese frosting is ready, put it in the fridge to keep firm until you’re ready to use it.

Next prep the cupcakes.  Scoop out some of the cupcakes to make room for the caramel.  I use a small knife just to make a small hole on top then pull out some of the filling.  Pipe some caramel into the hole.  It doesn’t need to be a ton, but let’s be honest a lot is always delicious.

Now you can make the candied nuts.  First, lay out some wax paper so you’ll have somewhere to place the candied nuts.  This really is an essential first step.  Next in a pan, over medium heat, combine the walnuts and sugar, stir occasionally.  After a few minutes, the sugar will start to melt.  Stir to coat all the nuts.  Once they look golden and candy coated, remove from heat, sprinkle with salt, stir again and then spread them on the wax paper.  Be careful.  At this point they will be very hot.  Give them some time to cool, then go through and separate any pieces and stuck together.

Lastly, now you can finish assembling the cupcakes.  Frost them however you like.  My sister and I went through a different types of frosting styles with different tips, but in the end it doesn’t really matter, since it’ll be covered in delicious candied nuts.  So once you’ve frosted them, lay some salted, candied nuts on there.  Refrigerate so everything gets firmed up together.  Then serve!

(Note: This picture will be infinitely funnier if you’ve read this)

You might be wondering why I decided to bake in the middle of the week.  Well, I suppose it’s not that out of character for me, but I had a reason. It’s my favorite brother-in-law’s birthday.

Happy Birthday, Tim!!  I think he liked them 🙂

In fact, I think everyone that’s eaten them has liked them.  I’m pretty sure that means I might have to make these again.

There has to be another birthday coming up soon, not that I really need a reason to bake.

Have a great weekend!

Quick and Easy Pear Crisp

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This pear crisp saved my dad’s life.

True story.

That cookies and cream ice cream from Thrifty sitting next to it…  That did nothing for him.

But the pear crisp? Bonafide hero.

Let me tell you why.

Last Sunday, I saw my dad about to serve himself some of this peachy, puddingy-looking dessert a family friend brought over.  I had seen it sitting in the fridge for a loooong time, uncovered, not looking too hot.  I get closer, I see that it’s gray.

Now, I’m all for consuming everything and not letting anything go to waste, but your peach dessert should not be gray, nor should it be fuzzy.   I made him throw it away.  I’m sure we can imagine what the results would have been if he consumed that…

But LUCKILY, this guy saved the day, and you can too.

Quick and Easy Pear Crisp

6-7 pears, sliced (you can leave the peel on)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 flour (or corn starch), for the filling
1 cup flour (for the topping)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup oats
1/2 cup butter, softened

Pre-heat oven to 400F.

Combine sliced pears with sugar, cinnamon and 1/4 cup flour.  Put in a greased baking dish.

Make crumble topping by combining 1 cup flour, brown sugar, oats and butter.  Use your fingers break up the butter and combine it with the dry ingredients to make small clumps.

Sprinkle with crumble topping.  Bake 30-45 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the pears are bubbling.

Serve warm with ice cream and thank goodness you won’t be calling the diarrhea hotline.

Chocolate Pudding Trifle and My Other Pet Peeves

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There are a few things that make me inexplicably mad.

I know they’re completely irrational, but they simply push my buttons.  I try my hardest to not get visibly angry but whenever they happen, my blood boils.  Let me share them with you, because well, that’s what I do on this blog.  I hope that doesn’t bug you.

1.  I hate, hate, hate being asked the same thing over and over again by the same person.

Example 1: My brother does it to bother me at this point.  In the past 3 weeks he’s asked me how to make peach pie filling at least 485892849552344 times.  I’m not exaggerating.  The answer is always the same (peaches, sugar, cinnamon, flour).

Example 2: When I made pies in jars for my friend’s wedding, my mom asked me pretty much everyday for a month when the wedding was, where and other details I didn’t know because I was neither in the wedding nor getting married.

2.  Making chocolate pudding trifle.

I get it.  It looks pretty, right?  But it infuriates me.

My mom asked me to make it twice in the past two weeks.  I don’t understand why she loves it so much.  It’s the first thing I ever learned how to make.  In fact, I got the recipe on the Food Network website when I was in high school.  The real recipe sounds nic,e because it comes from Magnolia Bakery but I made it with cool whip and that’s how my family loves it.

The reason this makes me so mad is dumb.  It’s really because I’m a brat.  This is quite possibly the easiest dessert to make.  It requires little-to-no baking abilities.  It’s basically just assembling a dessert.   That’s what makes me angry.  The crazy baker in me that wants to make huge elaborate, fancy desserts hates that this is made with broken chunks of chocolate cake (you can use box mix), crushed oreos, cool whip and instant chocolate pudding from a box.

I tried to redeem it by making the cake from scratch.  But I think I had a sour face the entire time I assembled the two that I made the past few weeks.

3. Wet bathroom floors.  I don’t even need to explain that one.

4.  When my cake gets stuck to the bottom of the cake pan.

 

Then it all falls to pieces and it doesn’t look pretty.  Lesson learned, always use parchment paper to line your cake pans.

5.  When I run out of corn starch while making a custard.   Runny custard really just means sweet, eggy milk.

Doesn’t that just sound gross?  Yeah.

So the moral of the story is don’t repeatedly ask me to make chocolate pudding trifle, and if I’m nice enough to rise above my distress and make it for you, you better pray that my cake doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan (even though it doesn’t matter for that dish) and that I don’t run out of ingredients.

Instead, just pour me a glass of wine (or bourbon, whichever is on hand) and call it a night.

Chocolate-Wine Cake

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Learning is a funny thing.  I have no idea how it happens. The question I probably get asked the most is: how did you learn to cook?

I have no idea. There are very few things that I remember anyone actually teaching me to make (among them: handmade tortillas, Rellenitos, and most other Guatemalan dishes I know how to make).  Most of my cooking knowledge comes from observation and experiment.  That’s right.  Experiment.

Try recipes.  Make changes.  Sometimes it works.  Sometimes it doesn’t.

When I worked at a French bakery, I watched the chef make cakes, tarts and galettes full of envy, because I wanted to make things as beautiful and delicious as she did.

Then I went home and tried it.  The result:

Pear Almond Galette.

The Fall Cake.

All because I watched the chef make it, then I wanted to try it myself.  But inspiration doesn’t only come from watching the pros.

Here’s the most recent example of my constant experimentation.

Chocolate-Wine Cake.

An experiment inspired by an experience.  In Italy, I had a chocolate-wine gelato.  I had never had chocolate and wine together.  It seemed like such an unlikely combination, but I was completely intrigued.  I figured it was worth a try in cake form too.

Chocolate-Wine Cake

adapted from Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sweet red wine (such as Port or other sweet red wine)
1/2 cup boiling water

Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl.  Set aside.

In another bowl, beat together sugar and oil.  Beat in one egg at a time until just combined.  Alternate mixing in dry ingredients and red wine.  Lastly, stir in boiling water.

Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan.  Bake 40-50 minutes (this will vary depending on your oven).

Allow to cool completely, turn onto a plate, top with chocolate ganache (optional) and serve!

I thought the chocolate and wine combination was interesting.  The chocolate flavor dominates but the wine is not far behind.  Most definitely a nice break from traditional chocolate cake.    For some, it might seem blasphemous.  Straying from a recipe is a recipe for disaster.  But I like to think of recipes more as guidelines.

From there you learn what works and what doesn’t.

Replacing milk with wine in chocolate cake.  Success.

Using less butter in Italian Buttercream Icing.  Failure.

How else are you supposed to discover the next best thing?

What Making A Peach Pie Can Teach You About Life

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A few years ago, I made terrible pies.  No really.  They were not good.  They were runny, caved in.

In short, not cute.

But I kept at it.  Now I can honestly say I know how to make a good pie.

Throughout my pie (mis)adventures, I learned a few things about pie making that I think apply to life as well. These are my pearls of wisdom:

1. Be patient.
Pies, like all good things, take time.  Your crust needs to rest.  First as a ball of dough (at least a few hours). Then as a rolled pie crust (at least an hour, better if a day).

Give it time and keep it cool.  It’ll be worth it in the end.

2.  When life gives you ____, make pie.
In this case, peach pie.

Leave the skin on, sometimes things are better when they’re a little rough around the edges.  Remember, pies (and you) don’t need to be perfect.

3.  Be generous with the sugar.

Both in pies and in life, the more sugar, the better.  Smile at strangers.  Hug your friends.  Kiss your loved ones.  You won’t regret it.

4.  Don’t forget a little spice.

A dash of cinnamon makes most pies delicious.  A little sass in your life won’t hurt either.  Just a dash.  Not too much.  No one likes a diva.

5.  Sometimes things don’t go your way…
and you drop a piece of the filling on the floor.

When things fall apart, wipe it up and carry on.

6. Fill your life with sweet things.

I’m not talking about inducing diabetes, sometimes a sweet thing doesn’t have to be food.  Nice people.  Good books.  Cute puppies.  All sweet things.

7. Don’t be afraid to get complicated

Even if in the end it’s not perfect.  It’ll be worth the effort.

8.  If you’re not ready for a pie in the oven yet, wrap it up.

Yeah I said it.  Truth.

9.  Lastly, like the first lesson, be patient some more.

It’s a long process, and takes about an hour to bake (at 375F).  But in the end it’s totally worth it.  Can’t we say that about most things… degrees. relationships. work.

Continue reading →

Vegan Banana Bread

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I’m pretty sure there’s something in the Bible against lying to your parents.  But really, this wasn’t a lie.  It was more of a withhold-the-truth type thing.  See, if I told them this was vegan banana bread, something undoubtedly would be wrong with it.  I can almost guarantee they would hate it.

Instead, I fibbed.

I told them it was the same banana bread I’ve always made with butter and eggs.  A banana bread they love.

They loved this one too, and hopefully it won’t raise their cholesterol.

Vegan Banana Bread

1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 “flax eggs”*
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

In a small bowl, combine 2 tsbp flax meal with 6 tbsp water.  Whisk together and set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In another bowl, combine sugar, oil, “flax eggs” and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.  Right before it’s all combine, stir in bananas and pecans.  Don’t overmix.

Pour batter into a bundt pan, bake at 350F for about 40 minutes (this will vary depending on your oven).

Serve and don’t tell anyone it’s vegan.  Unless you’re trying to impress a vegan, in which case you can sing its dairy-free praises.  However, should you decide to keep its vegan identity a secret, you might get what’s coming to you.

In the process of making the banana bread of lies, I got a paper cut on a bag of flour.  Call it karma or punishment. I call it an unfortunate casualty of baking.