Lovin' From the Oven

Pecan Toffee Cookies

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So I just got mail from UCLA saying that they’re going to delete my ucla email account at the end of this month since I’m no longer a student, staff, or faculty. What the heck? I am 99% sure that they told us we had our email for life. ::tear:: Has it really been that long already since I’ve graduated? I feel so old! Time’s truly flying and there’s just not enough hours in a day. Especially with this daylight savings coming up– we’re losing an hour! 🙁 That means it’s technically 2:45 AM as I write this blog post right now. No bueno since I have work at 9 tomorrow. Ugh. I’m scheduled to work 65 hours this week on top of my homework. I’m not quite sure how that’ll go by, but hey, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. Right?

These cookies were de-lish. I’ve had good luck with the recent recipes that I’ve been trying because they all seem to hit the spot. No bad recipes, yet! ::knocks on wood:: I adapted this recipe from Rock Recipes. When I made the original recipe, the cookie dough just seemed really crumbly and off, so I added another egg yolk to the batter which solved the problem perfectly. I also refrigerated my dough just to make sure there was no spreading and subbed the majority of the white sugar for brown sugar. The result? A sweet and salty, soft and chewy, delight.

Any questions about well, anything? Ask me on formspring! And become a fan of my blog on facebook, if you’d like to and haven’t already. Gracias!

Ingredients

  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 full egg & 1 egg yolk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ cup chopped roasted pecans
  • ½ cup toffee chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy.

4. Beat in egg & vanilla extract

5. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

6. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.

7. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned.

8. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Mini Chocolate Chip Turtle Cookies

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I think I’m finally starting to run out of fuel. Working 7 days a week + school + hanging out with friends + boyfriend + keeping up with my baking blogs = not exactly the most ideal schedule to have. As much as I love keeping busy, a girl has gotta rest every now and then! Luckily, I have an ENTIRE week off and will be heading to Big Bear in two weeks… a MUCH needed vacation, if you will. I’m excited to just sit there and do nothing. That’s what keeps me sane– little trips to far away (or not so far away) places. A day trip to San Diego? Yes, please. As long as I’m with the boy, it’s a good trip.

I saw these on Visions of Sugar Plum (by the way, how cute is she?!) and just HAD to have them. I recently had a turtle chocolate thing from Disneyland and have been craving it ever since. I knew I should have bought the bigger one! Oh, poop. Until I get the chance to go back to Disneyland to get another chocolate turtle, these cookies will have to suffice. I adapted the recipe just a smudge but they turned out perfectly. Let’s add another cookie to my all time favorite list, shall we? These definitely made the cut. Pecans, chocolate, AND caramel?! What more could a girl ask for? I used mini choco chips and made my cookies bite-sized. The cookies were amazingly chewy– kinda like the cookies that I bought from the cart in high school/middle school way back in the day(best cookies EVER!). They also resembled the mini cookies at Mrs. Field’s. yum!

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
  • Melted caramel, for drizzling
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy – about 1-2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour until just combined; stir in chocolate chips and pecans until combined. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  2. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray.
  3. Roll dough into balls (about 2 teaspoons per ball), place on cookie sheets, and flatten using the palms of your hands. Bake 8 minutes or until set and light golden. Cool on wire racks. Drizzle with melted caramel.
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Oh, I’ve also started updating my style blog once again after a year of deadness. haha, I know.. I suck.. but check it out if you’d like!

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Day 10: Toffee Walnut (Heath Bar) Cookies

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I hope everyone had a great Christmas! So I definitely didn’t complete my goal in blogging about 12 cookies before Christmas, but I’ll finish it by the end of the month.. Promise! I got so wrapped up in baking for the holidays that I didn’t have time to take a breather and take pictures/blog. For Christmas, I ended up baking 24 dozen cookies for my family and close families to me. I know, crazy, right? I used two ovens and baked for 4 hours straight. I made all the dough the night before so I could just bake all of yesterday. There were a total of 6 different types of cookies and the result was well worth it!

Day 10 of my twelve days of cookies: Heath Bar cookies! These are hands down my boyfriend’s favorite cookie. He adores toffee and even sneaked a ton to save for himself for later. I found the recipe over at Simply Recipes and adapted it just a tiny bit with the amount of vanilla. This made just over 4 dozen cookies for me, since I made a slightly bigger cookie than normal. These cookies are some of my favorites as well, since the walnut and toffee just go hand in hand.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped Heath Bar pieces (Eight 1.4 ounce bars)
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine Heath Bar pieces and chopped walnuts. Set aside.

2 Cream butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy (a couple minutes). Beat in eggs one at a time, and vanilla.

3 Alternatively mix in the Heath Bar mixture and the flour mixture, a third at a time, until well blended. Chill cookie dough for at least 30 minutes (better an hour).

4 Preheat oven to 350°F. On cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or Silpat, spoon out the cookie dough in small 1-inch diameter balls (size of a large marble). Place dough balls 3 inches away from each other on the cookie sheets. (Make sure there is plenty of room between the cookie balls, and that the cookie balls aren’t too big. These cookies spread!)

5 Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

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PS.. I just had to share with you what my boyfriend got me for Christmas. It came in this lovely white box…and when you open it up, there’s a little black bag inside of it…
and inside the little black bag, is this beauty!:
It’s the YSL mail ring, which is the style I’ve been obsessed with as of late! I’m dying to track down a YSL mail bag and wallet. But yeah.. LOVE IT! I got him an SB600 external flash for his Nikon. How nerdy, I know. What did you guys get for Christmas? Any fun goodies?

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