kim, Author at Lovin' From the Oven

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

April 1, 2011 by kim 11 Comments

First… you bake your cupcakes. Then, you cut out a dome shaped chunk from the middle:

And stuff with cookie dough!

Frost and decorate:

It’s that time of the year. The time of the year where I always deny that I’m sick. I never get sick. I worked at the Boys & Girls Club for six years; my immune system is immaculate. There’s no way that I can get sick. The truth of the matter is that I’m congested, I can’t sleep comfortably, my throat is swollen shut, and my nose won’t stop dripping. Sorry for the visual… I know they don’t go well with baked goods.

It just so happens that this sick time conveniently meshes with the one week where I’m supposed to work the most days in a row. Am I complaining? A little bit. But I have no reason to complain… I’ll be in San Francisco in 6 days, Paris in 19, and Hawaii in 59. It’s better to be sick now than then, right?

Okay no more complaining. Suck it up, Kim. Just one look at these cupcakes and they’ll make anyone feel better. Cookie dough filling, cookie dough frosting, and a cupcake?! I’ll just knock myself into a sugar coma and sleep it off like a champ.

I used a yellow cake box mix for the cupcakes since these involved enough work as it is, but feel free to use your own from-scratch recipe. The mini cookies that I topped the cupcakes off with were made from Nestle cookie dough (The huge tub from Costco). Ahhh, now that’s a cupcake.

Cookie dough filling from Quick Dish

1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
6 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour
7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips, plus more for decorating

Cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
Gradually mix in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until combined.
Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 15 minutes or until slightly firm.

Cookie dough frosting from The Family Kitchen

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
1 3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Beat together butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
Gradually mix in the powdered sugar, flour and salt. and mix until combined. Add milk and vanilla until frosting is smooth.

FAQ’s: Part One

March 29, 2011 by kim 7 Comments

1.) How did you first get into baking?

I started baking desserts at the end of high school. I brought brownies to school one day and realized how happy baked goods made people. I love being able to evoke that feeling upon someone, however little it may be. I believe I can make the world a better place, one cookie at a time. 🙂 Cheesy, I know.

2.) What ethnicity are you?

I’m Vietnamese, although no one ever guesses that on the first try.

3.) Where do you do most of your baking?

I’m currently living at home, so I do most of my baking in my parents’ kitchen. I’m so blessed to have such a wonderful environment to bake in. Here’s a glimpse into my little abyss:

Occasionally, I’ll bake at my DB’s house, but most of the time it’s stuff from a box because I don’t have my ingredients/baking tools there. You may or may not know that I refer to his oven as the oven from hell… because it is. This is his kitchen:

4.) What are your kitchen must haves?

A separate post is coming up soon just for this question.. there’s too much to list!

5.) With all of your baking, how do you stay thin?

Truth of the matter is that I give out 90 percent of what I bake. I either bring it to work, give it to my DB’s friends, or take them to get togethers. I only take bites of what I make to test it out, so that I know what I need to adjust the next time around. I also take bites for photos. 🙂 I don’t diet, but I am aware of what I eat. I eat dessert after every meal, but it’s usually a small portion. If I want a burger at 2AM, you bet I’ll be on my way to In-N-Out.

6.) Where do you buy your bakery bags?

ULINE.com, but they only sell in bulk.

7.) What does DB stand for?

Dear Boyfriend/Darling Boyfriend

8.) Do you have a KitchenAid? If so, what color is it?

I do! I got it from my parents years ago. The color is green apple. Say hello to my dear little friend:

9.) What did you study in school?

I was a Political Science major because I originally intended to go into law. It wasn’t until the end of my junior year that I realized law was definitely not for me. At least one good thing came from it; If it wasn’t for me being a poli sci major, I never would have gotten to know my DB! (He was a psychology major with a political science as a minor, so we shared the same class… but that’s a whole other story)

10.) Out of all the things that you’ve baked, what is your favorite?

For cakes, it’s hands down my aunt’s carrot cake recipe. As for cookies, I’m a simple cookie kinda gal. Snickerdoodles and chocolate chip cookies will do. Oh, these Nutella ones sure hit the spot as well.

11.) What kind of camera do you use for your pictures?

Most of the time, it’s my Nikon D40x or my DB’s Canon T2i. Occasionally, I’ll be using my dad’s Nikon D80. For my food reviews, I use a Canon S90, which I take with me everywhere I go.

12.) What’s your favorite kind of food?

Sushi! I could eat it everyday.

Well, that’s it for round one. Leave additional questions in the comments and I’ll try to answer them in the next round!

Simply Banana Bread

March 27, 2011 by kim 10 Comments

Everyone once in a while I get into a rut. I type and backspace more times than I can count and end up with a blog post full of pictures, but no words. Well, today is one of those days. Usually, I’ll be driving and think of something to blog about, so I quickly grab my pen and jot it down on a post it note before I forget (at a red light, of course). That post-it note is empty for this week and I’ve got nothing to blog about at 2AM in the morning. My apologies!

So to go with my semi-boring post, here’s yet another banana bread. Yes. I can’t get enough. There are so many bananas in a bunch that some are bound to be made into bread! The bread and streusel did not disappoint, but then again, does streusel ever disappoint? The recipe is from simply scratch, although I didn’t toast the banana beforehand and I added a splash of vanilla extract.

I also made three mini loaves instead of one huge one. The amount of streusel topping was quite overwhelming, which I loved! If you’re not a fan of eating spoonfuls of streusel, just halve the topping recipe. Now go bake away!

For the Bread:

3 whole bananas
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Streusel Topping:

1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
A pinch of salt
1/3 cup Walnuts, Chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.
Cream together the butter and sugar until well mixed. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well.
In a separate bowl, mash the bananas, cinnamon and nutmeg with a fork. Mix in the milk.
Add the prepared banana mixture to the creamed butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined. Add in the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt) until incorporated.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 40-45 minutes. With ten minutes remaining, prepare the streusel topping by combining the butter, flour, and dark brown sugar until well mixed. Add the cinnamon, pinch of salt and the chopped walnuts. After the 40 minutes remove and sprinkle on topping evenly and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes.

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