Lovin' From the Oven

Maple Snickerdoodles

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I tried using my bf’s 50 mm lens for these photos. I’m a complete newbie when it comes to this stuff; I just flip a switch here, flip a switch there, press a button, and snap a picture. I mess with the camera a little bit more and take another. I repeat this process about 60 times and cross my fingers that one of the photos turns out well. I told you, I’m a newbie. That’s what I do.
I used to hate this lens at first because I had to stand so far from the cookie to take the picture. I like to get up close and personal, but this lens would never take a good picture that close. The manual focus also threw me off. Now, I’ve fallen in love with this lens. Look at that focus, the blurred background, the way it makes an object look.. just dreamy! I know I still have to work on getting a very clear photo, but I’m more than happy to work with this lens some more in the future.
Let’s take a break from those cupcakes, shall we? Here, we have some maple snickerdoodles. I’ve had a love affair with snickerdoodles ever since I was in the second grade. Let me explain…

In second grade, I never cared for anything but climbing fences, playing red rover, and chasing boys (to kick them, of course). I was oblivious to boys liking girls, girls liking boys, or that whole other world where crushes existed. I didn’t care for boys.. I only cared for them when it was their birthday and they brought in cupcakes or cake to share with the whole class (Why didn’t we do this in middle school/high school?). Is that selfish? Maybe not for a 7 year old.

One day, a boy brought in Mrs. Field’s cookies to share with the whole class for his birthday. Since my mom never baked, I wasn’t really familiar with cookies or any dessert, really. I chose a snickerdoodle out of the box and took a bite. I, till this day, remember taking my first bite of a snickerdoodle. It was soft, chewy, and melted in my mouth. This was also probably my first time eating cinnamon because there aren’t too many Vietnamese dishes that use cinnamon (I grew up with a nanny that only cooked Vietnamese food) and my dad hates cinnamon, so it was never in the household. This boy asked me how my cookie was and I couldn’t stop raving about it. I kept telling him how much I wish I had another since one was just not satisfying.

The next day, he handed me a huge white box. I opened it up to see a dozen of Mrs. Field’s snickerdoodles. I repeat… a dozen. The box was lined with wax paper and had snickerdoodle on top of snickerdoodle. I just about died in heaven and ate the entire box by the end of the day. Looking back on it now, I realized he probably maybe possibly might’ve just had a teeny tiny itty bitty crush on me. Maybe. It took me until the sixth grade to figure that out– when he actually told me flat out that he’s liked me for years. I guess the presents-for-no-reason makes sense now. I just always thought he was a nice boy. I’m so oblivious, sometimes. But I’m still curious.. how the heck would a second grader be able to go out and buy a box of Mrs. Field’s cookies? Thank you, boy’s mom!

What is it with snickerdoodles and boys, anyways? Every boy (and child) that I know loves snickerdoodles! It’s the way to a man’s heart– I just know it. Why do you think I’ve been trying to perfect it for so long? The better the snickerdoodle, the better the boy. Hahah. Now I’m talking crazy talk. You’ll have to excuse me.

This is a snickerdoodle with a twist, adapted from The Busty Baker. I just added cream of tartar (because a snickerdoodle is not a snickerdoodle without cream of tartar) and rolled it in cinnamon and sugar rather than just cinnamon. Make sure to use good quality maple syrup! None of that Aunt Jemima garbage. These cookies will come out fluffy and soft with a crackly top.

  • 2 cups AP flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup salted butter (or you can use unsalted and add about 1/4 tsp salt)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tblsp real maple syrup
  • 1 egg
  • 2 parts sugar to 1 part cinnamon
  1. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cream of tartar, and salt.
  2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the maple syrup and egg until combined. Add dry ingredients. Beat until just mixed.
  3. Refrigerate dough for at least an hour.
  4. Preheat oven to 350F.
  5. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Roll each ball in the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Arrange balls on cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.
  6. Bake until tops are crackly, about 9-12 minutes. Remove from oven and leave cookies on sheets to cool slightly, about 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

Cookies n’ Cream aka Oreo Cupcakes

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If you know me, you’ll know that I adore baked goods, Pixar films, and german shepherds. At work today, a joyful man brought with him the most adorable german shepherd I’ve ever seen. Okay, so every german shepherd is the most adorable one I’ve ever seen, but still… This was one good lookin’ dog. I had to go and ask his owner all about him, of course!

While talking to the owner, I found out that the dog’s name was Guinness, he was 4 years old, and he weighed 110 pounds. He was a service dog for his owner because his owner had narcolepsy. Apparently, whenever his owner would have an narcolepsy attack, the dog can sense it 10-15 minutes before it happens and grab his arm with his mouth. That way, the owner knows it’s coming and can take his medicine to prevent it from happening. The dog keeps the owner’s medicine around his neck and is allowed to travel with him everywhere. I mean everywhere. Because of Guinness, the owner can do everything normally– drive, travel, be independent. He takes a trip every summer with Guinness, and this year they were traveling up the west coast (they live in the D.C. area).

Guinness is allowed to go everywhere his owner can.. like on an airplane! He doesn’t even sit in the cargo area– he sits right on a seat next to his owner. Best part is, he doesn’t have to buy a ticket for his dog! Just talking to the man, I could get a sense of how much love and adoration he had for his dog. He really admired Guinness! I mean, who wouldn’t? I made a comment about how large Guinness’ ears were, and the owner replied, “Those ears? Want to see how large they REALLY are?” and pulled out his wallet. Inside his wallet, he had a picture of Guinness from when he was 8 weeks old with ears that were half the size of his head. I just about died from cuteness overload. Apparently, Guinness’ ears stuck straight up when he was 7 weeks old and didn’t even flop. Talk about a perfect dog. Gahhhh. I’m dying for a german shepherd even more now.

Well this recipe has no relation to my story whatsoever, but I just had to share it with you. Dogs are such amazing creatures and have amazing abilities. I’m still in awe of how they could train a dog to catch things like that and alert the people when we can’t sense anything ourselves. The owner also told me that before he got the dog, he used to have episodes every month. Now, he hasn’t an episode in five months. His episodes are much farther apart because of Guinness, and it’s because of him that the owner can do everything he does.

Oops, I got sidetracked again. Back to the cupcakes. The oreo at the bottom was a nice surprise and the cake was nice and fluffy. The sour cream kept the cakes nice and moist, and went well with the bits of oreos. You can also mix in some crushed oreos into the frosting, if you want.. but I just opted to throw some on top.

  • 1 package (18.25 oz) plain white cake mix
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 30 Oreo cookies
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with 24 paper liners.
  2. Count out 12 Oreos and separate the top and bottom wafers. Make sure both sides have some of the icing on them. Place one wafer, icing side up, in the bottom of each liner. Set aside.
  3. Crush the remaining 18 oreos by putting them in a ziploc bag and using a rolling pin to roll over the bag.
  4. Place the cake mix, sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Then, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  5. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 1 1/2 minutes more. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of the crushed oreos and fold them into the batter until well incorporated. Set aside remaining crushed oreos for garnish.
  6. Fill each lined cup 3/4 of the way full with the batter and bake for 18-20 minutes.
For the frosting, I used the same one posted in my previous post and sprinkled some crumbled oreos on top.

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Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes

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So posts this week may have been a little slow– I apologize! This is my first full week back at work and I’m not used to this from having so much time off. I miss being able to lounge around, sleep in, and stay up late watching tv shows on DVD. This six day, 54 hour, work week is not something I want to do anymore– I’ve realized how much of a workaholic I’ve been and need to enjoy life while I’m still young!

With that said, I’m glad to say that I’m seriously debating going to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris in 2011 for the Baking and Pastry session. My mom asked me the other day if I even wanted to teach (since I’m going for my Masters in education and teaching credential right now) and I couldn’t give her a straight answer. She looked at me, being the great mom she is, and instantly knew what was going through my head. That’s when she told me, “Why don’t you do what you love? Go to Paris, go travel, go learn how to bake!” Ever since then, she’s been mentioning it every day and even told me that she already talked to my uncle who lives in Paris. He has an extra room that he would be more than willing to let me live in for however long. Tempting, right? If only I didn’t already put so much money and time into grad school. Do I finish that first? Uffffda. I need to figure out what I’m doing with my life… Again.

I’ve always been a fan of boxed mixes, especially doctored up. I think they have the most wonderful results for any cake that you can imagine, and it’s so versatile! I used one of my favorite cookbooks for the cake– Cupcakes From The Cake Doctor by Anne Byrn and the buttercream recipe comes from The Repressed Pastry Chef. The cupcakes rose beautifully and the extra kick of dutch processed cocoa takes it to a whole other level. The buttercream was definitely the best one that I’ve tried so far, but I’m not really a fan of buttercream’s taste. It’s just the best to work with and pipe. I’ll stick to this frosting recipe until I find another one that tastes even better.


  • 1 package (18.25 oz) plain devil’s cake mix
  • 3 tablespoons Dutch process unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Prepare the cupcake batter: Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.
  3. Place the cake mix, cocoa powder, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium beat two minutes more.
  4. Spon or scoop a heaping 1/2 cup batter into each lined cup, filling it 2/3 of the way full. Place the pans in the oven.
  5. Bake the cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 17-20 minutes.
  6. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool.
Buttercream Dream Icing
  • 1 stick salted butter, room temp
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
  • 1 cup shortening
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 2 pounds powdered sugar (about 3 1/2-4 cups)
  • 4-6 tbsp very cold milk
  1. Cream butter and shortening. Add vanilla extract and combine well.
  2. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all the sugar has been added, begin adding the very cold milk.. one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition with the mixer on medium-high to high speed until you reach the desired consistency.

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