Lovin' From the Oven

Cake Batter Cookies

by 19 Comments

DSC_4441

DSC_4440

DSC_4443

DSC_4442

DSC_4456

DSC_4417

Things are finally beginning to wind down. Did I tell you that we found an apartment up north? My DB and I took a trip a couple of weeks ago to find a place to stay and I was getting a little worried looking at the open houses. College students sure live… like college students. Just about when I had almost given up hope, we walked into a beautiful, completely remodeled apartment in a homey, cabin-like building that’s conveniently located right next to the school— perfect for the both of us! My DB and I both knew the moment we stepped foot into the living room that this was it. We filled out the application, put the deposit down, and walked away with peace of mind.

Well, that was a couple of weeks ago and I’ll actually be moving everything up this Friday! We’ll be getting away from “carmageddon” with the 405 being closed this weekend. I’m not sure how I feel about the 6 hour drive in a U-Haul truck, but you do what you gotta do.

I was on a cake mix frenzy after making these and still had 3/4 of a box of batter to use. Lucky for me, I stumbled across this recipe from Stephanie Cooks. I loved the idea of replacing some flour with cake mix to make cookies and was intrigued if the cookie still held the funfetti flavor. Sure enough, the cookies still tasted like the cake batter… Just what I wanted! The only thing is that they turned out a bit flat. Perhaps increasing the baking soda and adding a pinch of baking powder would do the trick. I baked half the batch without chocolate chips and the other half with chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1 1/4 cup funfetti cake mix
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 3/4 cup softened butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Cream together the butter and sugars. Mix in the egg yolk, egg, and vanilla until creamy. 
  2. Add in the flour, cake mix, and baking soda.
  3. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  4. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 350.
  6. Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets. 
  7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are golden.

Marshmallow Monster Cookies

by 10 Comments

IMG_3695

IMG_3699

IMG_3729

IMG_3714

I’ve got a bone to pick with you guys. With summer coming up in full swing, which sunscreen do you guys use? The spray or lotion kind? I’m usually a lotion kind of girl, but we recently bought the aerosol version since it seemed so much easier to apply.

Never again. The bottle lasted my DB and I literally 3 days. Not only that, but it doesn’t quite spread everywhere. We both got burnt with zebra stripes on our backs/arms/legs, despite our efforts of putting it on twice in one afternoon. Ouch. So it’s more expensive, doesn’t last nearly as long, and isn’t quite effective. I definitely won’t be using the aerosol kind anymore. Am I doing something wrong or does it truly suck?

These cookies were wonderful. They were hearty with a good mix of peanut butter, oatmeal, and chocolate, and had a wonderful texture. They were thick and chewy, while the marshmallows were a nice addition to the mix. My DB even ate these and he HATES oatmeal! He barely noticed that they were even there. This recipe is adapted from Pinch of Yum and lives up to the “monster” name!

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 2 cups quick-cooking oats
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1 cup miniature marshmallows
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
  2. Stir together the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. 
  3. Cream butter and both sugars until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla. 
  4. Add the peanut butter and mix until smooth. Mix in the flour mixture until just combined.
  5. Stir the oats and chips into the dough with a wooden spoon.
  6. Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. Push in 4-5 marshmallows into each cookie dough ball. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until golden.

Star Wars Brownie Roll Out Cookies

by 16 Comments

DSC_4200

DSC_4214

IMG_3441

IMG_3449

Just about to go into the oven:

DSC_4173

and baked!

DSC_4185

DSC_4204

DSC_4217

DSC_4227

DSC_4207

Happy May 4th! aka “May the 4th be with you” aka my DB’s birthday. I thought this day would be the most appropriate to share these Star Wars cookies that I made not too long ago. I picked up these cookie cutters from Williams Sonoma. They also had Star Wars pancake molds, food dyes, and aprons– perfect for the girlfriend with the Star Wars-loving boyfriend!

Funny thing about Star Wars.. I still have yet to see it. I know, I know… I’m a terrible person. But don’t worry. I’ve started! … kind of. Let’s just say that my DB’s doing better with the Harry Potter series than I have been with Star Wars. Oops.

But there is one person that I know who may or may not be a bigger Star Wars fan than my DB. That, my friends, is Donald Faison. Don’t know who that is? He’s also known as Turkleton from Scrubs (my favoriteeeee show of all time). I ran into him at Katsu-ya and he actually called me over to ask where I bought my DB’s Star Wars t-shirt from. Next, he pulled up his sweater to reveal a t-shirt that read “I <3 Star Wars." Amazing, right? Donald Faison's every bit as awesome as I thought he would be. He even took a picture with me! Listen to myself.. I sound like a little fan girl. Oh dear. IMG_1255

Okay, no more fan girl.. back to the baked goods. This recipe from Smitten Kitchen made the most perfect cookies. By perfect, I mean perfect for detailed cookie cutters. The taste was a little bland, but I do admit that they make some beautiful cookies.

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s dark)
  1. Mix together the flour, salt and baking powder in bowl and set aside. 
  2. Cream butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa in mixer. 
  3. Gradually add the dry flour mixture into the wet mixture. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  5. Roll out the cookie dough on floured counter. Use cookie dough cutters to cut into desired shapes.
  6. Bake on a lined baking sheet for 8 to 11 minutes (the former for 1/8-inch thick cookies, the latter for 1/4-inch cookies) until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly soft and puffed.

Categories