SWEET SKILLET COOKIE OF MY SOUL

I love to bake but boy do I love not following recipes so much more. I generally only cook things that don't involve recipes. Which works nicely for a lot of things but baked goods, let alone gluten free baked goods, don't always blend well with such an abstract approach.

I knew this recipe was going to be a keeper when I made it and realize HOW EASY it is. I've made it several times from memory now and each time I pop it in the oven, my recipe hating heart rejoices! No longer am I chained to a recipe or a website or a precious cookbook. This is living, friends!

Not only is it gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free and GOOD, but it's also already in my mental recipe book and I'm pretty excited about that. In case you're curious to see the other desserts I've Made/been obsessed with (one in the same), here's the dessert tag.
(ALSO THE OG MUFFIN RECIPE. Oh my heart, 2012 was good to me)

// (sweet) SKILLET COOKIE (of my soul) //

i n g r e d i e n t s :

1 cup almond flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/3 nut butter (almond, cashew, sunflower, coconut, peanut, whatevs!)

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1 egg

3 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

chocolate chips, amount is up to your sweet tooth

STEP ONE:

mix everything.

STEP TWO: 

Bake at 325 (I use an 8x8 well greased pan)

for about 19-25 minutes.

(it's technically supposed to be made in a cast iron skillet

 but we city folk have to improvise.)

STEP THREE: 

(the most difficult step)

let it cool before eating.

(i know, ugh)

e x t r a  n o t e s :

*you can swap out the flour for any gluten free flour

 Tapioca flour, coconut flour, almond flour, whatever.*

*make it vegan by substituting the egg for a chia egg*

*use dairy free chocolate and you've got yourself a delish dairy free dessert*

*chopped up fancy chocolate works well too!*

*I normally add extra flour. I like my cookies to 

match my makeup, nice and cakey.*

*bake time varies, keep an eye on it.*

*in case you were worried or curious, it is totally acceptable to eat a 

cookie for breakfast, lunch and dinner.*

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OH MACARON HOW I LOVE THEE

A little macaron shop opened up in our dinky and equally dorky mall a few months ago. After trying macarons from Paris and NYC, I really didn't have any interest in cheap, Floridian macrons! (you can't blame me, can you?!)

But then dear Sarah invited me to go and I threw my prejudice out the window with an "oh why the heck not" and we found ourselves at the macaron shop in our dinky, dorky mall. And lo and behold, it had good macarons! actually, they were almost as good as my Paris macarons!

So moral of the story, Floridians can do a few things right! (just not the Hawaiian print shirts...we stink at fashion.)

ps: shout out to Sarah for her wizard hand model talents!

When in DC, cupcakes!

Going to cupcake shops is my thang I guess. I say thang instead of thing because I've been running on very little sleep and occasionally even the girliest of girls needs to go gangster, even if it just involves switching an i to an a.

It's the little things in life!

Anyway on our free day, Mary and Shelbie (and I! Of course!) went to Georgetown cupcake! Which in all honesty, has been on my want-to-do-in-DC list for ages. But I'm glad I waited till I had friends because it was so much more fun. I've also decided that Red Velvet is indeed another one of my thangs, because no matter where we go, it's always my first choice!

Red Velvet lovers ahoy! ALSO, props to Mary for being amazing and posing casually amidst the busy buzz of a major cupcake empire!

PS: And for nostalgia sake, the cupcake tag will do wonders for you. And by you I mean, your hips.

Christmas is for cookies!

Happy Eve of Eve friends! After being up for 23 hours yesterday, today seemed like the perfect day to share a cozy cookie recipe. You know, for munching on as you curl up on the couch with cocoa and a sappy movie. Staying up for 23 hours is optional and not advised.

CHOCOLATE MINT CRINKLE COOKIES

Ingredients

• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 teaspoon pure mint extract
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Step 1

   Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring.

2. Step 2

   Whisk together flour, baking powder, and cocoa in a small bowl.

3. Step 3

   Whisk together granulated sugar, eggs, and melted butter in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in melted chocolate and mint extract until smooth. Stir in flour mixture. Refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.

4. Step 4

   Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls using your palms, then roll in confectioners' sugar to coat. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing each 1 inch apart. Bake until slightly firm in the center, about 15 minutes.

5. Step 5

   Let cool slightly on sheets set on wire racks. Transfer cookies to racks, and let cool completely.
   
   
   
   
   
   Serve with a cup of cocoa and and a side of Christmas carols! And share with a fluffy puppy and you'll know what Christmas cheer is.
    

An ode to fruits who've gone before us (watermelon lemonade!!!)

I'm contantly begging to buy fruits for epic desserts. You know, lemon semifredo, blackberry cobbler and the list goes on and on. But the even longer list is all the fruits that have gone bad since I was too lazy to make it.

For the record, this happened yesterday. I have a really bad track record of wasting fruit. Such talent I possess! This is clearly going to take me far in life.


So this lemonade, I USED TWO FRUITS THAT DID NOT GO BAD. Ha! Take that, all you 50 different kinds of exotic fruit that now sit in some lonely dump, decomposing into goodness knows. So then, they were all redeemed by this lemonade that is fab for guzzling when you happen to live in the sweltering state, and your ac is broken....IN JULY.

Watermelon Lemonade. Serves 5 (ahem, or one. But really, I wouldn't know.....)

1 lb watermelon,
2 oz lemon juice
1.5 oz agave &
4 oz water 

To make it:  blend everything together in your blender, then strain it through a fine mesh strainer. Pour into pineapple cups. Striped straws optional but highly encouraged.

Enjoy guzzling/sipping/drinking normally or whatever you fancy! Have you made any fancy lemonades??

XOXO,
Lemonade freakazoid.

(kinda sorta.)

(okay fine, totally.)

Exciting Muffins

 

I know, I know, An exciting muffin? HOW CAN THIS BE? You thought they were boring but ha! You thought wrong. Let me introduce you to the rock star of all muffins...(dun dun dun!)..... The double chocolate banana muffin. (!!!)

Somehow, that didn't sound as profound as I imagined it too?

But let's dive into the muffin - you'll find it's profound-ness sooner or later. My friends mom made these muffins for me once (okay, multiple times) and I've been hooked ever since. I seriously don't think a week has gone by in the past year where I have not had one of these muffins.

I just typed fuffins....I should probably just get to sharing the recipe. 

 They even contrast very well with watermelon nail polish. What a nice quality for a muffin to posses!

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BANANA MUFFINS

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup baking cocoa
• 1 tspn baking soda
• ½ tspn salt
• ¼ tspn baking powder
• 1 1/3 cups mashed ripe bananas (2-3 medium)
• 1/3 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
•  1 egg
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients.
2. In a small bowl, combine bananas, oil and egg
3. Stir into dry ingredients until moistened.
4. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Fill greased or paper-line muffin cups ¾ full.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done.

 Rock star, profound, exciting muffins?

Amen, Amen, Amen.

Persistence, Macaroni and Macaroons

 One time, my cousin told me I was persistent after I'd emailed her about 100 times asking for some pictures. At first I thought that was COMPLETELY rude, but now I guess I'm okay with admitting that I am a VERY persistent person.

(And when I say VERY in caps, I mean it.)

So, what's with the macaroons? Apparently, it's just something bloggers like? I'd been super persistent with Macaroons, showing my parents pictures all the time and practically having my pinterest abducted by them. Yeah, persistence is my thing. Anyway,  daddy spoiled me by getting these for me for Christmas. Unfortunately, they came early and KJ opened the box and told me I had gotten macaroons. I was still sick and I was like "Oooh, Macaroni?"

Macaroons, Macaroni. Same deal.

  And they are the most photogenic nuggets ever. If only I could be like them...

xoxo,
Miss Macaroon

PS: Have you ever tried macaroons? Raspberry Macaroons = OH MY GOODNESS = they taste amazing.

Ginger Snaps!

Okay, these are not really ginger SNAPS. They're technically called Gingerbread Softies. But the snotty 11 year old in me was pretty sure that's the most retarded name for a cookie....so they're ginger snaps.

 Gingerbread Softies
These cookies flatten and crack as they cool. The secret in keeping them soft is to remove them from the oven as soon as they are set but before they start to brown.
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup shortening*
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
4 cups flour
4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger
l/2 tsp. cloves
l/2 tsp. salt
Cream together the sugar and shortening. Add eggs and beat until thick. Add the molasses and stir until combined.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Add to creamed mixture and stir just until blended. If the dough is very soft (hot day? warm kitchen?), wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Shape into 1” balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350º for 7 – 10 minutes or just until set but before they start to brown.

And I kinda meant for this to go up before Christmas. But I kinda (no I REALLY) had the flu so, plans change!

xoxo! Hope your Christmas was a merry one!

Homemade mints.

I don't know about you, but this REALLY bugs me.

Not having mints at restaurants.

I mean, there could be worse problems. Like maybe the food being cold or terrible service. But really, not having mints STINKS.

(Plus mints and chicken fingers really go nicely together. You should try it! Oh wait, you don't order off the kids menu...never mind!)

Okay, so you can make your own mints. And by mints, these are really not mints at all. They're meringues. OHHHHH......What is that? Some fluffy, crunchy delicious things that taste JUST like mints.

Peppermint Meringues
recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

• 3 large egg whites
• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
• Red gel-paste food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; secure corners with masking tape. Fit a pastry bag with a small open-star tip (such as Ateco #22). Set aside.
2. Make meringues: Put egg whites and sugar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water, and stir gently until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Transfer bowl to an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Mix in peppermint extract.
4. Using a new small paintbrush, paint 2 or 3 stripes of red food coloring inside the pastry bag. Fill bag with 1 to 2 cups meringue. Pipe small (3/4-inch-high) star shapes onto prepared baking sheets. Refill bag as necessary, adding food coloring each time.
5. Bake cookies until crisp but not brown, about 1 hour 40 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

And so that's the no mint solution. Sneak 'em in your purse. Don't worry, no one will notice. And if they do, they'll just be jealous.

---

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies

 I was having problems getting on board with Fall until, really, it was Fall. Now that we've had some chilly days, I'm practically the conductor of the train.

Did that make any sense? I don't think so.

BASICALLY, I'm here to inform you that I once again have fallen head over heels for pumpkin because it's bananas. Well, not really. I'm probably going to be putting pumpkin in EVERYTHING I eat, which means I'll be chowing on pumpkin grilled cheese and pumpkin perogies because that's how exciting my diet is.

Now, about these cookies. Like I mentioned, they're banana's. It's basically pumpkin bread. BUUUUT, the only thing better than pumpkin bread is pumpkin bread with chocolate chips and in cookie form. It's basically magic. And don't be surprised if you see a few unicorns in your kitchen...Never mind.

Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients:
½ c. sugar               2 ¾ c. flour
½ c. brown sugar            2 tsp. soda
½ c. Butter          1 tsp. ginger
2 eggs                    1 tsp. salt          2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla                1 tsp. baking powder
1 ½ c. pumpkin            1 c. chocolate chips


Directions: Blend sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla. Add flour, salt, soda, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon. Add pumpkin and chocolate chips. Drop onto cookie sheet (greased if needed) by large spoonfuls. Bake at 375 for 10 min. Makes 5 dozen delicious cookies.

 GO! BAKE!

Caps is seriously the only way to express important-ness.

Point. Less.

 Let's face it,

Sophie is just obsessively exciting.

I mean, as if you didn't know this already.

My point is, that sometimes I go outside and Sophie comes and I take pictures. Which is self explanatory, so that's not really a point at all.

I guess I just came to say that my duties this week are done. I've gone to school and done my thing. Now I'm gonna do my other thing, my favorite thing. This involves drinking chocolate milk, knitting and watching HGTV. I find it very satisfactory to know the home prices in Italy. Don't you?

What to bring when you barge in

 Well, maybe you call ahead. Regardless, make these! If you like Red Velvet, you'll love them. If you like cookies, you'll love them.

And if you enjoy stuffing your face with food, then these are for you!

And the secret is, these are made out of a box cake mix! (Yes, I do make cookies from scratch!) It's so easy...and so good. And so easy. And so good.

 

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies (from The Novice Chef)

Yield: 18 cookies

Crinkle Cookies from a boxed cake mix are one of my favorite cookies to make. First off, they literally take 5 minutes of work from me. Second, they are delicious and chewy! You can use any boxed cake mix in this recipe to make crinkle cookies...some of my personal favorites are Lemon and Chocolate!

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
18.25 oz box Red Velvet Cake Mix
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F and line two cookie sheets with a silicon mat or parchment paper. Place powdered sugar in a shallow bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine butter, eggs and red velvet cake mix until there are no large lumps left.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls (about 1 tablespoon worth of dough) and coat in powdered sugar. Place on cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches for spreading.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the tops have cracked and the tops look set (the centers will still be gooey). Let sit for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Serve warm (over Bluebell vanilla ice cream!) or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

And I think you can make these with any kind of cake mix as well. And seriously? These make AMAZING Whoopie pies! Whoopie!

Xoxo, Red Velvet Forever

(and cheese too!)

Keeping up with tradition

I have a friend with my friends family. It was sort of an accident, but now after a whole year of being there on EVERY one of her family members birthday, we have to keep it going! In my opinion, it's a really cool tradition! Sure, we don't tell them we are coming, and yes, we may come well after 9:30, but hey! I love it....and I hope they do too (although, I never bothered to ask. I'm really thoughtful like that.)

I did come bearing a gift of Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies. And we sang. And rolled on the floor and laughed and did gymnastics and imitated commercials. It was truly beautiful.

Happy Birthday Mrs. W!

Fancy Galettes

 I made Galettes today. For normal people, that's a tart. I just like to pretend I'm all fancy shmancy. I also made them without following a recipe...which is not so fancy. But they taste yummy and they are pretty cute.

What I really came to say is that I'm also super duper excited to a.) sound like a 5 year old and b.) have my DIY featured on Fernweh Magazine! Woot! I know most of you have already seen it, but still, why not go and refresh your memory? I totally think you should.

xoxo, Kryn

Cookie Dough Truffles

 I for one am an immense cookie dough fan. I think it's maybe the fact that we are not supposed to eat the dough before its baked - so it makes it more fun to sneak a few bites of the pure deliciousness. I wasn't planning on sharing this - but the more I looked at the pictures (and the more I ate of them!) the more I decided you needed to try these.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
from The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook

 

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

• In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
• Mix in milk and vanilla.
• Add flour and salt and mix on low until combined.
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Chill dough in refrigerator for about 30 minutes until firm enough to roll or scoop into 1-inch balls.
• Place rolled balls on a wax paper lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. (I had mine in for about an hour so longer is okay, too)
• Melt candy coating following instructions on the package. Remove a couple of balls from the freezer at a time. Dip in candy coating and let any excess fall off back into the bowl.
• Add small sprinkles on top and place on wax paper to set. If the chocolate pools at the bottom of the ball, dot the balls on the wax paper until most of it is pulled off the ball and then place it on a clean spot of the wax paper to set.
• Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to a week. (and put a little coconut on top if you know whats good for you!)

Enjoy - and happy weekend!

On being Jazzed

 Okay, You may have noticed. I have not been super enthused with this blog of late. It seems more like a job. (Sounds painful right?) But I promise you, I will do better. Even if no one comments and only my grandma reads it (by the way thank you!)  I will carry on (Name that song!) (Well, name what song that's in.) I kind of go in blog phases. I love it, then like it, and well, then hate it! I am also working on getting a PERSONAL design, something Ive been wanting for ages (2 weeks.)

So Jazz day? Music? No. Jazz? Of course! Here is what I am jazzed about: living with in bike riding distance of Starbucks. Honestly, its fairly awesome. Mom and I embarked on our biking trip to grab cake pops at 6:30. We returned at 9:45. We spent 30 seconds at the park enjoying our cake pops (see above) and not enjoying being eaten alive by mosquito. So we crashed a friends movie, isn't that just the friendliest and jazziest thing one could do? It was the Karate kid. It wasn't totally my type, but I'm not sure 5 boys would enjoy watching Emma....(although they should!)

I also had a dream about Jazz. Last night, but technically today. I'm always technical. Or not... Are clarinets used in Jazz bands? Anyway, I dreamed I was in a band and we were all supposed to have our clarinets. But mom forgot to buy mine so when the teacher called us, I was less than jazzed that I had no clarinet. I asked mom what I was supposed to do and she goes "Just play the air clarinet!" Okay? So I rocked the air clarinet for all of 30 seconds before Sophie practiced her morning ritual of sniffing my face.

There you go. I hope you got jazzed up because, huzzah, I actually posted!

Sincerely,
All Jazzed up.

PS: That's a picture of my cake pop. I didn't want you to confuse it with anything else. Thanks. Goodbye.

Knock you naked?

I told you, they were not the prettiest. But they were the tastiest. These are the brownies I entered in the fair. They are stuffed with caramel as you may have noticed. They are topped with powdered sugar. They are pretty much amazing. Unfortunately, I didn't get to be famous because I wasn't in the paper. But if you've been wanting to try these here is the recipe. (I left out the nuts and I suggest using less caramel. It was really oozy.)

These are also called "Knock you naked brownies" Which is not an accurate term. I was still fully clothed after eating them. But today in football I sort of, not intentionally pulled down some people pants and it just reminded me of these. Its amazing the things you think of in the middle of a football game.

 Oh and by the way, if you make these, I'm not guaranteeing instant wealth and fame. I think it's more a one time deal. And to a girl like me, wealth just might be $75. Xoxo, Kryn