Day 13 COCONUT YUMMINESS!

COCONUT TIME! I decided that because the USA womens game was on, I needed something simple to make. I uploaded the recipe for you instead of writing it all out. But really the only thing different I did was use vanilla extract because I did not have almond and I only baked for 20 minutes and then put the chocolate chips on top of the batter and bake in the oven to let them melt into it a little. I have not tried them yet because it says that they need to cool for 8 hours, I have no idea why. Good luck to the USA, they are winning right now! :)

Day 12 Florentines

Today I decided to make, what I know them as, Lacy's. They are very light and peanut/brown sugar with chocolate in the middle. I made sure I had everything and started to make them. The recipe is very simple.
4 Tbs unsalted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
--melt all of this in a sauce pan tell the sugar is melted, I couldnt really tell if the sugar was melted cause it all looks brown like the sugar but I just did it for about 3 minutes.
1/3cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup finely chopped peanuts unsalted
1tsp vanilla 
--make sure you have this ready because you want to added it right when you remove the first part from the stove. Add it and mix it together well. Make sure you cookie sheet is ready with flour and butter on it so that the cookies do not stick.
1/2cup semisweet chocolate chips
--scoop 1/2tsp full of the batter and place it on the cookie sheet, these will spread pretty big even though it does not look like enough. put these in the oven at 350 for about 5-10 minutes. While this is going bring a double boiler to almost a boil. Just get the water warm on the bottom and put the chocolate chips in the top boiler to melt them. When the cookies are done let them sit for about 2 minutes to cool then take one and spread the melted chocolate on the flat side and sandwich it with another one of the cookies flat sides. Then after you make them all, put them in the fridge to set in right. They taste great and are super easy to make! Glad I did them!

Day 11..ButterCream Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Today I drove back to Redding and made Butter Cream Chocolate Cupcakes for Dan and Meghan Anderson. I went to there house for dinner and baked with Meghan before we watched The Bachelorette. They tasted great and the frosting was even better. The frosting had 3 sticks of butter and 3 3/4 cups of powdered sugar! haha so bad but so good! Dan picked them out and I have pictures to show you but they are not downloading right...so they will be up soon along with the recipe. I cant believe it has only been 11 days, feels like a year! :) see you tomorrow!

Day 10 A chocolate bowl

Today I made a chocolate bowl with my mom! This was such a cool idea she had found and I got really excited to try it. In the third you see a bowl wrapped in foil. That is the bowl that we used to build our own chocolate bowl around it. We made the cookie dough and cut out little circles. Then overlapped them around the bowl and put it in the oven. After we baked it for about 15 minutes, I pulled it out and let it cool. It was a very creative idea that my mother thought if I ever give a cookie basket to come one, I can make a "bowl or basket" out of cookie mix so that way the whole gift is edible. It did not taste very good so we are still working on that, but I loved the challenge and the idea behind it! 

Day 9 Pineapple Upside Down

Today I made Pineapple Upside-Down Cupcakes. I went to my dear friend Savannah's bridal shower and I knew that they were her favorite so I decided to make those. They were fun to make but a little tricky. I got all the stuff I needed for them and started baking 2 hours before the shower. This was not enough time I realized but arriving late with delicious desserts is totally perfect! So I made the brown sugar glaze that goes in the bottom of the cupcake pans. Then I had trouble fitting my pineapple slices into the tray so I had to cut them and make them fit. Then I made the batter with sour cream, kinda sounds nasty but it makes it moist and fluffy. Then I put some batter on top and baked them for about 20 minutes. The cook book said to do it for 25-30 but they were getting really brown on top so it is good to watch them I am learning and to know your oven. After they came out we let them cool a little, that is my mom and I. Then we loosened them from the sides of the tray and with a cookie sheet on top of them and flipped them out! That is why they are called "upside-down" cause you eat them up side down! I added a little cherry to the top and powdered sugar for decoration and they looked beautiful. Savannah loved them and her shower was so fun and beautiful! I also won a prize during the Bingo game! I never win prizes. I got measuring spoons for teaspoon and tablespoon-which is perfect cause I do not even have any! :) My parents are out with the camera so pictures will come soon.

Day 8-Glazed Orange Cupcakes

Today I drove home to Santa Rosa and went out to Camp to visit my friends. All of them left to go to the giants game, except for Mitch. So I let him decided what he wanted to make and we went to get everything we needed. At first I was like no, I do not like oranges, lets do something else. But these cupcakes turned out great and super delicious. They have orange zest in it and I did not know what that was but I later discovered that it shaved pieces of orange. After we baked them we put a glaze on top and then added a sugar coated raspberry. If you want the recipe I can email you..meg.furze@gmail.com!

Day 7 Brownie Pops

Today I made brownie pops! They look so cute when they are done. It is a friends birthday tomorrow so I wanted to make something fun that isn't a cake. I found the recipe online and it is really simple. Make a batch of brownies. Then when they are done, take a 1/4 cup of frosting and melt it in a bowl in the microwave. Then after the brownies are done mix the brownies with the frosting and roll little bowls and put sticks in them. Next put the balls on a tray with wax paper and freeze them for about 30 minutes. Then melt about 3 cups of chocolate chips and 4 tablespoons of shortening in a cup. Then dip all the balls in the chocolate and sprinkle toppings on them! Then cool them again for a little while and serve when ever you want. They taste great!

Day 6- Cinnamon Roll Cookies

So I decided when I came home from work today that I would make cinnamon roll cookies. I looked at the recipe and I had all the supplies, but after I started to make them I realized that I needed to flip the page to finish the instructions. The cookies needed to be refrigerated for 4 HOURS! And since it is very hot in Redding, I like to bake at night which left me no time to get these baked in time. I finished them and rolled all the dough and put it into the refrigerator. They will officially be baked tomorrow morning, even though I finished them tonight! Technically I did not bake anything today, but if like Johnnie, you count baking already made French fries in the oven then I passed today! The recipe is very simple and easy to make. I will put the pictures of the finished cookie up tomorrow and also have something new for you as well!

Day 5-the cupcake kitchen

Today was a very fantastic day! My BFF Emilee Sidener is home for a break from working at her camp for a week. Her mother Marcie was having a BBQ tonight and invited me to come and surprise Em. I walked in the door and she looked at me and said, "You butt head, you lied to me!" I was texting her and telling her that we should skype "tonight" and then I walked in her front door. Well her mother happens to be a "professional" cupcake maker, Marcie's Cupcake Kitchen. We made Banana Split Cupcakes. They were really easy to make, especially since she has everything you could think of for making them. She even has a pink kitchen aid....I would love an Orange one (hint: mom). They have mashed bananas in the recipe and then we added the toppings to make it look just like a banana ice cream split! I would love to stay here and make everything with Marcie. She might have been one of the inspirations my freshman year that lead to me baking more. If you haven't checked out her business website you should,
www. marciescupcakes.com The camera for the pictures isn't working so those will have to come later! Sorry!

The 4th of July!

Cookies! Today we made chocolate cookies with a little peanut butter and some heath bar chunks. The recipe we found in a book and changed it a little but they still taste great! Now because the Flinn's and myself do not want to gain a ton of pounds this month we are freezing a bunch of the cookies and sharing them with others. This batch is going to the high school group at Neighborhood Church! Hope you like them! :)
The Recipe
Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies!
1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter
1 cab Eagle Brand sweetened condensed Milk
2 cups biscuit baking mix
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup of peanut butter flavored chips.

Heat the first 3 things on the stove tell melted. Then add in the biscuit, egg, and vanilla. Then let cool and add in the chips! Bake for about 6 minutes at 350!
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Day 3 The Cupcake Flag

Today was our 4th of July BBQ today with my family and the Flinn family, which called for a fun dessert. It started with baking a bunch of cupcakes in the morning and frosting them all with the different colors. I was lucky to have Kris and Mitch helping with this project. Kris has a cupcake book and we found a picture of a flag they made. We decided to try it for my blog but down sized ours a little. Although we still made over all around 90 cupcakes. The flag was about 65ish with the little ones on top. It was really fun project and now we have tons of cupcakes for the whole week.

Day #2!

Well today was crazy! Being only my second day I waited tell the last minute to bake. My family came in from out of town and we had an eventful day starting at 9am. This made it difficult for me to find time to bake something. We were in the car all day and I did not get home until 11pm. And because I left myself no time at all, I decided to make something rather fast. I have never made these before..they happen to be in the pantry and made my choice easy...so I made jiffy muffins. Raspberry and Blueberry. I was told the best way to make them is to mix the two boxes together for a better blend! They are in the oven right now! :) sorry to keep you waiting all day. Ill let you know how they taste tomorrow!

Day number 1!

Today was the kick off for the first day of my baking month. I decided to start my baking month with my signature cookie. I made Funfetti cookies out of a cake mix. I have been known for these cookies ever since I came to Simpson and they also happen to be my sisters favorite cookies and she is coming to see me so I wanted to surprise her with them. These are the easiest things to make and the most delicious! Since there is only a few of you reading this I will let you in on a secret, the recipe is on the side of the cake box. It is very simple and takes only about 20 minutes to make and bake them. Just add 1/3 cup oil and 2 eggs to the mix. Then roll them into really small balls and bake at 350 for about 8-10 minutes. If you haven't had them you need to try them....seriously! Well If you haven't signed up for a day to have me bake for you..do it soon!

Crunch Treat!

I just wanted to eat some Captain Crunch cereal, So I decided to make some rice crispy treats but use Captain Crunch instead. I figured we needed a treat while watching the Mexico vs. USA soccer game and Gordy's favorite is Captain Crunch and so it was settled. First start with a box of captain crunch and put it in a bag and smash some of it up with a rolling pin...but not to much. Then put a bag of mini marshmallows in a bowl with about 5Tb of butter cut into little squares. Microwave it for about 1 minute, maybe a little more. The marshmallows will turn into a huge bubble. So do not freak out when you see it blowing up in the microwave. After it is all melted, take it out and mix it around, then add the crushed up cereal. Next take a 13 X 9 pan and grease it up. Then pour it all into the pan and make sure it is settling how you want it to and let it cool for a while. Super fast and easy treat! Try it with all your favorite cereals.

Monster Cake

Today is my little friend Judah's 7th Birthday! I was over visiting him the other day and decided to ask him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. He was eating one of the confetti cookies I made and he said, "This kind!" His favorite color was green and because he is a seven year old boy I decided that a monster cake would be awesome! So I baked two round confetti cake filled pans last night and let them cool over night. Then this morning I made homemade 7 minute frosting and added neon green food coloring. Then I bought some candies to make the eyes with and decorated it. I was nervous that it would not turn out right and that the frosting would not work, but it did! The frosting is very thick and that made it easy to stick up like hair. I hope he likes it :) because I sure do!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate!

My favorite desserts always have chocolate and peanut butter together! So because Meghan, her mom and I needed a snack to watch our t.v. show tonight I decided to make No Bake cookies :) They are so easy and really fast to make.
Recipe 
2 cups sugar
4 Tb cocoa
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 Tb vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup of Nutella
Mix sugar, cocoa, butter, and milk in sauce pan until boiling. After boiling for about a minute remove off the stove and add in the rest of the ingredients. Then let sit for a little to harden up faster and put wax paper out. Drop spoon fulls on wax paper and let cool and harden.