Lovin' From the Oven

Bakerella Cupcake Pop Bouquet

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A friend of mine at school asked me if I could bake something for his girlfriend’s sister’s birthday. He basically left it up to me and let me make whatever I wanted since he trusted my taste. Ahh, the beauty of boys getting girls gifts… they always let the girls figure it out for them! Nevertheless, I was excited because I had another reason to make Bakerella’s cupcake pops once again!

This time, instead of making a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, I made a devil’s chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. The result? I think these were better than the red velvet, if I do say so myself. The only thing missing was that I didn’t have the mini m&m’s to top them all off. I used a styrofoam base to stick all the lollipops in and to keep them from tipping over (you can find these bases at a crafts store in the planting section). I made the cupcake pops just like before, but stuck a lollipop stick through them once they hardened and were completely dry. If the chocolate was too thick to poke the stick through, I used the tip of a knife to carve out a tiny hole so that the stick would go in easier.

I haven’t been able to bake this weekend because of my wisdom teeth surgery, but I lucked out and only had 2 wisdom teeth instead of the usual 4 (both of mine were on the bottom)! The operation was definitely not as terrible as I thought it would be since they knocked me out. The last thing I remember was the doctor telling me, “You’re probably freaking out and wondering ‘Why haven’t I passed out yet?'” The next thing I knew, I was waking up and the procedure was done. Amazing how that works. I’ve been living off of tomato bisque, mashed potatoes, yogurt, ice cream, and macaroni and cheese for the past couple of days. Man, what I would do for a chili cheeseburger! I’m seriously craving some REAL food. Thank goodness I have a nice boyfriend who’s about to pick me up some creme brulee and caramel flan (my favorite desserts of all time) right now. :]

My family & friends have been amazing since I’ve basically been stuck in bed all weekend and I just want to say thank you! I even woke up from my nap today to find this from my boyfriend’s mom & grandma:

…a “feel better” bouquet (sorry for the crappy picture quality, it was taken on my phone)! How sweet is that?! They’re so precious. I’m recovering quite quickly compared to my friends’ horror stories about their experiences with wisdom teeth pulling, and I should be up and about in no time. Thanks for all your concerns and words of advice! :]

Chocolate, Toffee, & Almond Cookies

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WOW! Where did all you people come from? Apparently a giveaway was all it took to bring you guys out of your shadows. 🙂 I’m so overwhelmed with the responses I got on my last post, thank you! It also bought me some time for posting because I’ve been so busy with finals coming up this week that I haven’t had time to update my blog as often as I normally do. I’ll probably be taking this week off as well, considering I have 4 essays to write by Wednesday. Eeeekk! Talk about a week of all nighters. Thank goodness I only have to do all of this ONE more time and then I’ll be done with school for good!

Remember, the last day for my giveaway is this Saturday by midnight! So if you haven’t left a comment there yet, I’d recommend doing it before time runs out. I’ll be posting again briefly on Sunday to announce the winner since I won’t have time to bake next week, either. :/
Now on to the cookies… I LOVED them! They were thick & chewy, sweet and salty. I was lucky enough to be contacted by Oh Nuts! a couple weeks ago to sample some of their items. I received dried blueberries, dried strawberries, and slivered almonds. Boy was I surprised to see that I got a POUND of each! I used the slivered almonds in these cookies to bake with, and they surely are addicting! Speaking of addicting, I couldn’t stop eating the dried strawberries. They tasted just like fruit leather, but seemed healthier… a perfect alternative when you need to satisfy that sweet tooth! What’s even better is that Oh Nuts! sell their items in bulk; When buying in bulk, you know that you’re saving money by stocking up on necessary items!
The only thing I would change about this recipe is that I would cut down the brown sugar to 3/4 cup instead of 1 cup the next time I make them (and I will be making them again) because I found the cookie to be a bit sweet. I would either do that, or substitute using a dark chocolate/bittersweet chocolate bar to chop up instead of milk chocolate. Besides that, the cookies were perfect.

  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 1/4 cups AP flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/4 cups of chopped chocolate (you can use chocolate chips if you’d like)
  • 1 cup of toffee pieces
  • 1 cup almond slivers
1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2.) Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl: all purpose flour, baking soda, & salt.
3.) Cream together butter & both sugars. Add eggs & vanilla, mix well. Slowly incorporate the dry mixture into the sugar mixture.
4.) Stir in the chocolate chips, toffee pieces, & almond slivers.
5.) Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes.

Mint Oreo Truffles

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Have I mentioned how much I adore Bakerella? She comes up with the cutest ideas paired with the simplest recipes. They can make anyone seem like a pro baker! This is the second recipe that I’ve made from her website; the first were her cupcake pops that were a huge hit as well!

Now, a little story to the background of this picture. I was driving with my boyfriend to his niece’s bday party (yes, this is finally the last of what I baked for that event & no, I was NOT the one driving.. I wouldn’t encourage taking pictures while driving, that’s dangerous) carrying my long and beloved cupcake carrier filled with goodies. This cupcake carrier is great because it can comfortably hold 24 frosted cupcakes with stability and perfection, or turn into 4 layers of support when you need to stack cookies/brownies/bars. On the way there, I realized that I had taken pictures of every other baked goods to blog about except for my oreo truffles! Total bust! Luckily, I had my point and shoot camera with me (I carry that everywhere I go since it’s so lightweight and you never know when you’re gonna need to take a picture) to save the day!

As my boyfriend is driving, merging on freeways, stopping at lights, and making turns, I manage to line up some of the truffles onto my cupcake carrier and take a picture for my blog. The truffles were sliding all over the place after each shot, but I did somehow get a legitimate picture. Too bad I couldn’t take a picture of how it looked inside, that would’ve made a HUGE mess inside the car. At the end of the five minutes of my truffle photoshoot/chaos, my boyfriend goes, “You’re gonna write about this [how chaotic it was for me to take the pictures] on your blog, huh?” Heck yes, I am.

These truffles were extremely delicious. Moist on the inside, and perfect to bring along. These were, by far, the biggest hit at the party… probably because there were a lot of mint chocolate lovers. I melted Wilton dark chocolate candy melts and Wilton blue candy melts for the coating.

1 pkg. Double Stuf Oreos – Cool Mint Flavor – (1 lb. , 1 oz. pkg.)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
chocolate bark or candy coating

  1. Finely crush the cookies in a food processor or a ziploc bag with a rolling pin.
  2. Stir in softened cream cheese. Use the back of a large spoon to help mash the two together completely.
  3. Roll the mixture into 1″ balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet.
  4. Place covered in freezer or refrigerator for a few minutes to help retain shape when dipping in melted chocolate.
  5. Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry.
  6. Refrigerate and enjoy!

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