#ODP13 Day Two

Here we are at Day 2 already! Yesterday went SO fast. Probably because I didn't wake up until 10, but whatever... Sorry for the poor quality of these photos, but they were taken before I headed out to my 8am class, so you get what you get... Today I'm wearing The Dress, my plaid shirt that I've had forever, a black and silver cross necklace, my watch, a bracelet I've had forever, red earrings, and white flats. Stay tuned for tomorrow's outfit :) I'll have more time to get ready tomorrow morning so it'll most likely be more complicated.

It's Just Lunch

  This week has been so crazy! Between babysitting and working I haven't had time to write any posts, much less make something cool for lunch! Therefore, today I give you sugar cookies! And let's be honest: sometimes you just eat cookies for lunch anyway. I made these with the kids I was babysitting yesterday. The recipe came from my new "The Joy of Cooking" cookbook from my awesome grandma!

Sugar Cookies

2 1/2 C Flour

1 1/2 t Baking Powder

3/4 t Salt

1 t Cinnamon

1 C Sugar

3/4 C Oil

2 Eggs

1 t Vanilla

Preheat your oven to 375. Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs. Mix until just combined. The mixture will be pretty crumbley, you just have to press it together before shaping and baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes and ice if desired. Enjoy!

4 Ingredient Cookies? I'm In!

You know those posts you see on Pinterest where you just thing "that is NEVER going to work!"? Well that was my thought when I saw this recipe for peanut butter cookies that only uses 4 ingredients. Neither I, nor my mom, thought that these were going to work, but with only four ingredients you're not really wasting that much if they don't work. We (I) decided to try it.

 Literally this is all you need.

They turned out great! They were so easy to make. They had that crunch that peanut butter cookies are supposed to have, but they also melted a bit in your mouth. Delicious!

4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

1 C Peanut Butter

1 C Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 t Vanilla

Mix all the ingredients together and drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Use a fork to create the ridges on the top. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Enjoy!

Chai Spiced Cookies

 Do those not look incredibly delicious? I thought so too. They also taste delicious, in case you were wondering! I had to make a dessert for the dinner we were going to tonight and the choice was between these and another incredible recipe that you can look forward to hearing about as soon as I (haha, my mom) restock the brown sugar. Needless to say, I made these because we didn't have any brown sugar. They're the perfect mix between crunchy on the edges and chewy in the middle. They would be perfect with a cup of tea. You should definitely make them and let me know what you think!

Chai Spiced Cookies (recipe found here)

2 3/4 C Flour

1 t Baking Soda

1/2 t Baking Powder

1/2 t Salt

1 3/4 C White Sugar

2 1/2 t Cinnamon

1 t Ginger

1 t Cardamom

1/2 t Allspice

1/4 t Pepper 

1 C Butter

1 Egg

1/2 t Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar and spices together. Take out 1/4 C of the sugar and spice (see what I did there?) mixture to roll the cookies in. Add the butter, egg, and vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Roll into small balls and roll in the sugar and spice mixture. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy! 

Cookie Dough Brownie Bombs

So today I thought I'd share with you a recipe I made for Easter this year. I was looking through my pictures and realized I hadn't posted these yet! They're actually pretty easy to make, it just takes quite a while. First  you make cookie dough. If you're worried about heath stuff you can use the recipe at the bottom of the post which has no eggs, but I think cookie dough with eggs tastes better so I'll probably make them that way next. After you've made your cookie dough roll it into balls that are pretty small and place them on a lined cookie sheet like so:

 I didn't realize how big they were going to end up once you added everything to them, so next time I make them I'll definitely start with smaller cookie dough balls! Put the pan in the freezer and let them harden for at least 30 minutes. While they're hardening bake brownies. Make sure you get the fudgey kind, otherwise they won't mold around the cookies. When the brownies come out let them cool for a little while or they'll burn your fingers (yes I learned that the hard way, I'm homeschooled ;)). Once they're cool enough to touch cut the brownies into 1" squares and mold them around the frozen cookie dough balls until they look like this:

 You don't want to wait too long otherwise they'll be harder to mold. Put the pan back in the freezer for another 30 minutes. Before you take them out melt one package of chocolate bark (or chocolate chips, whichever you prefer) in a double boiler. Keep a CLOSE eye on this. Burning chocolate neither tastes nor smells delicious... Take your frozen brownie covered cookie dough balls out of the freezer and drop them one at a time into the chocolate. Thoroughly coat them in chocolate and put them back on the pan like this:

Freeze them for about another 30-45 minutes. Until they're hard enough to not melt when you eat them, but not so hard that you break any teeth. It's a pretty wide margin, and if you forget about them you can always heat them in the microwave. When they come out of the freezer for the last time they should look like this:

If they don't, hey, it's cookie dough, brownies, and chocolate, it's going to taste good anyway!

I had some left over peanut butter icing in my fridge from this project so I melted some of that and drizzled it on top of the bombs. They were pretty incredible, I have to say. :)

Eggless Cookie Dough (recipe found here)

3/4 C Butter, softened

3/4 C Brown Sugar

1/4 C White Sugar

2 T Milk

1 t Vanilla

2 C Flour

Pinch of Salt

It's Cookie Time!

So I finished my psychology papers in time to send them in! Yay me! Now on to the important stuff. ;) Today I made Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies. Surprisingly, the recipe did not come from Pinterest, but a normal cook book! Shocker, I know. Anyways, the recipe is at the bottom of the post :)

Freshly out of the oven

I didn't add the food coloring to mine because I couldn't find it, so that is why my filling is just plain white.

Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies

6 T Butter

1 1/2 C Packed Brown Sugar

2 T Water

2 C Chocolate Chips

2 Eggs

1 t Vanilla Extract

2 1/2 C Flour

1 1/2 t Baking Soda

1 t Salt

Filling:

2 1/2 C Confectioners' Sugar

1/4 C Butter

3 T Milk

1/2 t Peppermint Extract

3 drops Green Food Coloring (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, water, and chocolate chips over medium heat until the chocolate chips are melted. Cool

Mix in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add flour, baking soda, and salt. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until firm. Cool on wire racks immediately.

In a large mixing bowl, combine filling ingredients until smooth. Spread between two cookies and enjoy! 

PS- This is my 100th post! How cool is that??

Starbucks Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Today I made copy-cat Starbucks Oatmeal Raisin cookies found on Pinterest (I'm addicted). I have to say, these were delicious. They are very close to the Starbucks cookie; the only thing missing is the chemicals! ;) I did modify the recipe a little bit. It called for regular raisins, golden raisins, and cranberries, but I didn't have golden raisins or cranberries, so I just used the same amount of normal raisins. Let me know what you think!

Starbucks Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1 1/2 C Old-Fashioned Oatmeal (don't use quick oats)
1/2 C Flour
1/2 C Dark Raisins
1/2 C Golden Raisins
1/4 C Dried Cranberries
1/4 t Baking Powder
1/4 t Baking Soda
6 T Butter, room temperature
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1/4 C Granulated Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 t Cinnamon
1 t Vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix together oats, flour, 1/4 C each of dark and golden raisins, cranberries, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate bowl mix butter, sugars, and egg. Add oat mixture to butter mixture and mix until combined. Add cinnamon and vanilla. I made mine pretty big, probably at least 2 T of dough per cookie. They do spread, so make sure you place them at least an inch apart for small cookies and two inches apart for large cookies. Top with left over raisins. You will have to flatten the cookie dough a little to make sure the raisins don't fall off. Bake on a foiled pan for 12-16 minutes or until brown around the edges but still chewy in the middle. Enjoy!