White Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies

White Chocolate... Just saying it makes me want some of these cookies. The combination of score bits and white chocolate make for a killer cookie if you ask me.

I had gotten a big chunk of white chocolate for Easter a while ago an it has just been resting on my desk for the past week or two, so i decided to do something with it. It was probably a good idea because these cookies tasted pretty good and they didn't last very long. 

Yields: 5 dozen
Prep time: 10 minutes 
Bake time: 8 minutes

Ingredients 

• ⅔ cup melted butter
• 2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons hot water
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 2⅓ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• White chocolate, chopped (about 80 grams)
• Score bits (about 80 grams)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F and line two sheets with parchment paper.

2. Beat melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, hot water and vanilla until very smooth (2-3 minutes).

3. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add all the dry ingredients to the butter, sugar, eggs, water and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate and score bits and roll 1 inch balls of dough with 12 cookies per sheet.

4. Bake for 8-9 minutes. 

Fancy Ice Cream Toppers

Whenever I would see these things on top of desserts I thought they were so elegant but somewhat intimidating. Well I recently attempted these fancy chocolate toppers and they were surprisingly easy. 

Oh boy! I haven't had ice cream in a while, I kind of forgot about it believe it or not. Since I have been making all of these desserts lately I haven't really been eating it that much. Tonight I enjoyed a scoop of mint chip (my favourite) while studying for exams (not my favourite.) I am actually pretty proud of how these came out. You can make just about anything, hearts, squiggles, zigzags or anything your heart desires.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp of canola or vegetable oil 
• A scoop of your favourite ice cream

Directions

1. Combine the chocolate chips and oil in a microwave safe bowl

microwave for 3 sets of 20 second intervals. Stirring in between intervals.

3. Set up a sheet of wax paper on a plate and use a spoon or spatula to drizzle patterns on the paper. You may not get it at first but practice makes perfect.

4. Store in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before serving on top ice cream. When they are ready serve, scoop ice cream in a bowl and gently peel off the chocolate and place it on top the ice cream. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Tapioca

This pudding is an old favourite of mine. I really love this dessert. Tapioca isn't everybody's cup of tea but I love it to bits. Every time I make some it disappears in 10 seconds flat. I sometimes add a raspberry reduction on top to even out the sweet flavour of tapioca with the tart taste of raspberries. If you are looking to get creative, serve them in martini glasses.

I'll give you all an update on the status of my cookbook that I have been working on. As many of you may know, this blog started out as a project for a tech glass. But I enjoyed it so much that I decided to continue the blog. I finished the cookbook and submitted it for marking last week. I hope I do well because I have really been working hard these past few months. 

Yields: 4 servings

Prep time: 5 minutes

Total time: 42 minutes

Ingrediens 

1/4 cup sugar

3 tbsp Minute Tapioca (I use Club House)

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a large saucepan whisk together the sugar, tapioca, salt milk and egg. Let stand for 5 minutes.

2. Bring to a boil on medium heat, whisk occasionally until it come to a full boil. This will take about 17 minutes.

3. Let cool for 20 minutes, whisk twice in that time. Pudding will thicken as it cools. Serve warm or chilled, store leftovers in the fridge.

Note: Looking to spice up this recipe? Try this Raspberry Reduction to top everything off.

Recipe adapted from Club House Minute Tapioca package

Smarties vs M&M's

Both of these candies are really delicious but when you make them with cookies is there one that is better to use? Well I was curious to which one works best when baking. 

 

At first I had made these Smartie cookies, and they were really good. But just recently I tried the same recipe but with M&M's. So here's the verdict... Don't get me wrong! I love M&M's, I personally think that they taste better and they also have better colours, but when they were baked they weren't as good as the smarties where. They tasted kind of funny, but the smarties tasted even better then they did on their own!  So next time you can't decide which one to use, now you know. 

35 Calorie Banana Oat Cookies

WOW! These cookies took no-time at all, it only takes two ingredients and they are healthy. One cookies is only 35 calories (without chocolate chips)or 60 calories (with chocolate chips.) I was pleasantly suprised when I took a bite of these, they actually tasted pretty good. 

I was on pinterest one night and I saw these cookies, they popped out to me, I thought "healthy cookies? there's no such thing!" but when you do the math these are like the equivalent of about 2 saltine cracker. Pretty helpful when you are trying to cut back on sweets. Since I started this blog I have been making a lot of desserts and even hough I work-out a couple times a week, I still find it hard sometimes to stay fit. This recipe was a gift sent from the food gods and when ever I get those pesky cookie craving I will make these instead. 

Yields: 12 cookies
Prep time: 5 minutes
total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
2 ripe bananas
1 cup oats
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional) 

Directions
1. preheat oven to 350F and line 1 cookies sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl mash together all of the ingredients with a fork.

3. Roll into 12 medium sized cookies and bake for 15 minutes. Cool and enjoy.

NOTE: These are good cookies to freeze and grab 2 when your in a hurry.  

Adapted from http://pinterest.com/pin/30399366207289117/

Blondies

Blondies are an interesting treat, they are almost like brownies but blonde. You would think that at first the chocolate element is what makes these bars taste good, but when you try these it will change you opinion completly. Blondies are like very, very chewy cookies that are made into bars and cut into squares. They are probably just as good as any brownie recipe, if anything better. 

I have been making these for the longest time. I was first introduced to the idea of blondies from watching the Nancy Drew movie. This was one of my favourite movies growing up. In one part of the movie Nancy talked about lemon bars and blondies that her friend Hannah had made for her. (How cool that I share a name with this character!) I first experimented with blondies was when I was hanging out with my cousin Olivia. We always have so much fun together in the kitchen, and being a fellow fan of Nancy Drew we made blondies. From then on I love making blondies, as it always reminds me of one of my favourite movies.

Yields: 24 bars
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes 


Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Directions 
1. Preheat oven to 300F and spray a 9 x 13-inch pan with cooking spray.

2. In bowl of electric stand mixer, combine butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir on medium for 1 minute. In a separate bowl combine all the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low for 15 seconds. Add in chocolate chip and continue stirring until the ingredients are well combine.

3. Press dough into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool in pan before removing. Cut into 24 squares.

Adapted from KitchenAid Best-Loved Recipes by Lou Weber

Super Moist Brownies

Many times, we see pictures of these moist and fudgy looking brownies and it can be hard to sometimes find that recipe that fulfills your idea of a good brownie. This recipe did it for me. It doesn't get any better than this. I hope you enjoy these chocolatey treats as much as me and my friends do.

In the original recipe it asked for 1 1/2 cups of flour but I decided to put only a cup, so that they would be more chewy and moist. Lowering the flour defiantly did the trick, along with the chocolate chips I added in, the changes made them more delicious and very moist.

Ingredients
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F and spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray and then line it with parchment paper.

2. Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl. 

3. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Set aside.

4. To the butter,stir in the sugar, vanilla and eggs. Add the dry ingredients and mix until it is just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and serve warm. 

Adapted from http://www.food.com/recipe/super-moist-brownies-460903