Chocolate Crinkle Sprinkle Cookies

Today, I have the cutest cookies to share with you from Jessica at How Sweet Eat's new cookbook The Pretty Dish.

Jessica's blog was the first that I started following. I loved her writing style, and I really related to her experience working a job that wasn't a good fit. At that point it gave me hope for myself that I would find something more suited to what I wanted my future life to look like. 

Fast forward a few years, and I'm still working in an industry that I'm not a huge fan of, but I am thankful for the experiences and lessons it has afforded me. I graduated with a business degree, and I'm thankful that I've learned how business works. More specifically how the politics of business work. The theory of business, and human resources, is pretty-cut-and-dry in the classroom. You graduate with all kinds of big plans and ideas, and it doesn't take you long to realize that the whole system is flawed because it's all run by human beings each with their own motivations. 

What does this have to do with sprinkle cookies? Nothing! Not a thing at all, but I like to use this space as a way to remember what my life was like during a certain period of time. I'd most like to remember that over the weekend I experienced a breakthrough (that sounds dramatic). Mainly I came to the conclusion that I really do not like the industry I'm in, and it's totally OK. I have a degree in business and almost ten years of experience that will serve me well in whatever comes next, but it's OK to finally admit I do not fit in this environment. I do not want to move up the ladder here. I don't want to pursue this. I'm not good at it, but that doesn't mean I'm a failure. It just means my talents lie elsewhere. It's OK to finally admit that I haven't been happy here since I started, and I don't have to feel guilty about that! 

What comes next? Hopefully a creative career and a small business that's all mine. I love photography. Food, people, landscapes, all of it. I hope that one day I get to have income that is generated by creativity and loving people well. Using photography as a way to help people remember the faithfulness of God in both good and bad circumstances. Until then, I'll be eating these DELICIOUS cookies.

Chocolate Crinkle Sprinkle Cookies

recipe from The Pretty Dish by Jessica Merchant of How Sweet Eats

makes about 2 dozen of the cutest cookies ever

1 cup ap flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

sprinkles**

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cocoa powder, sugar, and oil on medium speed until combined. 

Add in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. Add in the vanilla extract. 

Add in the flour mixture. The mixture will be quite runny. 

Remove the bowl from your mixture, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. 

After refrigerating, cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 

Add sprinkles to a small bowl. 

While the oven pre-heats, remove dough from the fridge. 

Using a medium-sized cookie scoop, scoop dough (they will be quite thick and sticky!) and roll into balls with your hands. 

Completely immerse the dough ball in sprinkles and roll until covered. 

Place on cookie sheet. Continue with all of the cookie dough, spacing the dough balls about 1 1/2 inches apart. 

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes until cookies have spread and have set. Make sure the cookies have cooled completely before removing from the cookie sheet. 

ENJOY!

** There are SO many types of sprinkles that these cookies would be perfect for any and all occasions. Use red, white, and blue for July 4th; green and red for Christmas parties; super bright and colorful for birthdays, etc. 

I love the sprinkle medleys from Sweetapolita! 

Lucky Charms Bars

This post/recipe was intended to go up for St. Patrick's Day, but it didn't happen. So, guys! Here's a very late, but yummy and easy recipe to brighten up your days! Lucky Charms Bars!

These bars are basically rice krispie treats made with lucky charms cereal. They are so simple to make but are an absolute showstopper when served with all those colorful marshmallows. 

I hope you have a blast in the kitchen when you make these! Enjoy!

Lucky Charms Bars

recipe from Simply Scratch 

1 box Lucky Charms cereal
1 stick salted butter
1 (16 oz) package mini marshmallows
1 tablespoon whole milk, I used half and half
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper.

Separate the cereal from the marshmallows.

In a large pot over low heat melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, add in the melted marshmallows and stir until completely melted and creamy.

Stir in vanilla and milk. Add in the cereal and stir quickly to combine. Remove from heat.

Add in the marshmallows and stir until combined. Transfer to a prepared pan.

Press gently, and allow to cool completely before cutting.

brown butter snickerdoodles + a secret ingredient!

Happy 2017 everyone! I hope your new year is off to a grand start, and that you're still excited about this new, fresh, exciting year! January is so motivating to me, and while I don't always follow through with my grand new year plans, it feels nice to reevaluate, organize, and reset.

Most of my plans for 2017 are large and a lot of them require getting out of my comfort zone and won't actually produce results until a little later. However, i'll be 30 this year (what?!?!) and that's made me a little introspective. My perspective on goal setting this year was, "what do I want my life to look like in the next 5 years", and I have some clear goals for both personal and professional areas.

What does all of that have to do with cookies? NOTHING. Not one thing! Ha! Maybe I can segue this blog post super gently into cookies by saying: if your resolution is to make super delicious cookies, this recipe will rock your world!

I'm sure you're just dying to know what that secret ingredient is, huh? Well friends, it's toasted PECANS. Yep, you read that correctly. Pecans! Toasty, fragrant, delicious, pecans that are pulsed in a food processor that add the best nutty flavor, especially when paired with the brown butter. 

I didn't realize that snickerdoodles were hit or miss cookies. Did you? It seems like people either love them, or they really don't. I am actually not a huge fan of snickerdoodles (give me chocolate chip any day), but I just couldn't pass on these cookies with the yummy extra additions so I gave them a try. I am so glad I did because not only are they delicious and impressive, but they're incredibly easy, too!

Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

recipe from Kevin & Amanda

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 cup whole pecans

1 cup oats

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for rolling

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a heavy-bottomed metal pot brown your butter. If you've never done this before I use this post! Once it's browned pour the entire mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer to cool.

In a large skillet over medium heat toast whole pecans until lightly browned and toasted. 

Immediately transfer the toasted pecans to a food processor. Add flour and pulse mixture until nuts and oats and combined. 

Transfer oats and pecans to a large mixing bowl and whisk in flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. 

Meanwhile in the stand mixer, add both sugars to the browned butter and mix well (about 3 minutes on high). Add in eggs one at a time until combined, then the vanilla extract. Scrape the sides of the bowl. 

Add in flour mixture to the wet ingredients beating on low speed until combined. 

Use a medium cookie scoop to form dough balls then roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place dough on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack then enjoy!

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Peanut Butter Blossoms

Hey, hi, hello! I'd be willing to bet you need a quick, easy, delicious recipe for Christmas cookies. I have just the one for you, and it has a little twist to make this classic cookie extra special! 

This recipe adds chocolate chips to the cookie itself, and then the dough gets rolled in a crumbly mixture of peanut butter and powdered sugar. The mixture gives this cookie a crumbly outer texture, and more chocolate never hurt anyone.

Merry Christmas, friends! Thanks for reading! 

Peanut Butter Blossoms

makes about 3 dozen

recipe from Half Baked Harvest 

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup creamy peanut butter, divided 

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

2/3 cup powdered sugar

chocolate kisses

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

In the bowl of a mixer cream together butter, 1/2 cup of peanut butter, and both sugars. Add in the egg and vanilla until just combined. 

In a separate bowl whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

With your mixer on low, add dry ingredients until just combined. 

Fold in mini chocolate chips. 

In a small bowl combine remaining 1/2 cup of peanut butter and powdered sugar making sure to break up any large clumps. 

Spoon out two teaspoons of the dough and roll in the peanut butter powdered sugar mixture prosily lightly to adhere. 

Bake on a cookie sheet spaced 2 inches apart for 9-11 minutes depending on how crispy you like your  cookies. 

Salted Caramel Brownie Pies

I don't even know where to begin with this recipe. It's one of the most delicious and requested things that I make and I always welcome the opportunity to do so.

Fluffy, light, airy, buttercream gets sandwiched between two brownie cookies with crackly tops and tender middles. It doesn't get any better than that folks. 

Oh, and see that flower up there? Yeah...that's a rhododendron bloom from my parent's yard and I picked it illegally and apparently gave my father a heart attack. I guess I'll do almost anything to get a good photo!

Salted Brownie Pies

makes 10-12 sandwiches

inspired by The Baker Chick

For the Brownie Sandwich Cookies

12 ounces dark chocolate, total (5 ounces roughly chopped)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Microwave butter until melted and add 7 ounces of chocolate. Stir until completely melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

Place eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and creamy. Add in flour, baking powder, melted chocolate, and the 5 remaining ounces of chopped chocolate. Mix until just combined and put in the fridge to chill for no more than 10 minutes. 

Scoop dough into a pastry bag and cut off the end. Pipe 2 inch circles of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. You'll know the cookies are finessed when the tops of crackled. 

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

For the Salted Caramel Buttercream Filling

1 cup unsalted butter, softened (I usually allow my butter to rest on the counter overnight)

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 caramel sauce (I used the pre-made stuff, but homemade would work as well)

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Place butter, sugar, caramel, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy.

Place buttercream into a pastry bag fitted with a decorative attachment and pipe onto the flat side of a brownie cookie. Sandwich the filling with another brownie cookie. 

Sprinkle fine sea salt on the tops of the finished sandwich cookies and enjoy!

brown butter chocolate chip cookies.

Hi everyone! Today I'm sharing cookies! And not just any cookies. These cookies are from the joy the baker cookbook. Her blog is one of the first that I ever started reading. She's so real in her writing that I feel like we're best friends in real life. When I received her book as a gift several years ago I bookmarked almost all the recipes and have been dying to make everything and we're starting with these cookies. 

These are actually going to work with me tomorrow. I work in higher education, and this is the week before our spring semester begins. There is no more chaos at a workplace than the week before college students come back to school. Everyone waits until the very last minute to get things done and it creates a lot of pressure and anxiety on all the staff. One thing I can say though, is that we always seem to pull together and work as a team. Each semester brings familiar problems and new disasters, but I have some great co-workers that I can rely on that make the issues much easier to solve. I'm thankful for that!

It's become a tradition to have a building-wide "junk food day" on the Friday before courses begin, and these are what I'm bringing to the party. How did I decide on these? Two reasons. 

1. chocolate
2. brown. butter.

Do you really need any other reasons? You sure don't!

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

recipe from the joy the baker cookbook

1 cup (2 sticks) plus 1 tablespoon butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon molasses

1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (i used ghiradelli chips because they're HUGE)

Brown 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon of butter (directions for browning butter can be found here). Once the butter is browned immediately pour it into another container to cool slightly.

In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the remaining butter and white sugar until creamy. 

Add in the vanilla extract and molasses, and beat until incorporated. Once the browned butter has cooled slightly, pour into the creamed butter mixture along with the brown sugar. Cream until well incorporated. Add in the egg and egg yolk, and beat for 1 more minute.

In another medium bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

Add in the flour to the butter and sugar mixture all at once and beat on low speed until the flour is just incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Remove your dough and roll tablespoons into balls and space 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. I used a small ice-cream scoop for this and my cookies came out perfect!

Bake cookies for 12 - 14 minutes until the edges are browned but the centers are still soft. 

Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack after about 5 minutes.

Also, as an additional note, a friend pointed out that my cookie 'C' in the top photo was facing the wrong direction. This is a perfect example to demonstrate how fried my brain is after work since I didn't even notice and then argued with him when he pointed it out. I was really impressed with my cute and creative idea so the photo remains in all its backwards-glory. Just go with it!