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Monday, March 19, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Samoa Cookie Bites
What a week! I can't tell you just how excited I am that it is officially the weekend. It has been one stressful week at my 9-5, so the 2 day break is definitely welcome. You know what else I'm excited about? I'm excited that today is the day I am presenting you with recipe number two for this month's Ingredient of the Month: Samoas. If you don't remember, last week I announced that I would be coming up with one ingredient for each month to feature in a handful of recipes. I kicked the project off with some delicious Samoa Cupcakes. I really was sad for those to be gone. They were pretty divine.
This week I offer to you another very yummy Samoa-featured treat. I'm also happy to say that these treats are much easier than the cupcakes, and only require a few ingredients.
You will need to pick up a box of Samoa cookies... but wait a second, you can't get your hand on a box right at this moment, you say? Well, I've got a secret for you. You know those Keebler Coconut Dreams down your grocery store cookie aisle?
Yes, those! Well, I'm happy to let you in on something grand... these taste exactly like Girl Scout's Samoas. Now, in telling you this, I'm not trying to take the biz away from those cute little uniformed girls. I was a Girl Scout once, and I know how hard it is to sell each and every box. So, if you have access to a true.blue box of Samoas, by all means, go support America's Youth. If that's just not possible, take a quick trip down the cookie aisle.
I'm almost embarrassed to call this a recipe, because it is just so simple! I could see myself serving these up at baby showers, birthday parties, lunchbox desserts. Or you know, just sitting in front of the tv on a Friday night.... don't judge.
In my opinion, these are better than cake pops. You don't only get one flavor from the cake, but you get the flavors from caramel, coconut, and chocolate. And it has this crunch that you just don't get from a cake pop. Oh my goodness, just talking about it makes me want to go bite into one right now. I think I'm just going to stop talking and present you with this little gem of Samoa wonderfulness.
Samoa Cookie Bites
makes about 12 cookie bites
Ingredients
1 box Girl Scout Samoas or Keebler Coconut Dreams
about 1/4 cup Vanilla buttercream or other Vanilla frosting
1 package baking chocolate for dipping
1/2 cup caramel, for garnish
1/4 cup coconut, for garnish
Either in a food processor or in a medium bowl with a fork, crunch up the cookies to small crumbs. Add the frosting and make sure it's all combined well.
On a baking sheet or tray, lined with parchment paper, begin forming bite-sized balls with the mixture. Squish these tightly in your hands so they are sure to stay together completely. Once you have formed the bites with all of the mixture, place the tray in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.
Once you're ready to dip the bites into chocolate, get a tall and narrow glass. I learned a great tip for chocolate dipping that I just have to share. Place the tall glass into a saucepan of water, simmering on low to medium-low heat. Stir occasionally until completely melted. This is a great method if you are working in large batches. This will keep the chocolate from cooling and becoming difficult to work with. If you run out of chocolate, just add more and it will continue melting. Just one thing to watch out for - do not let any water get into the chocolate. This will cause the chocolate to separate, and separating chocolate is just not what you're looking for here!
Anyway, while the chocolate is melting down, put your caramel squares in a microwavable bowl and microwave with a small amount of milk, stirring about every 20 seconds, until the caramel is smooth and "drizzle-able."
Here's the fun part! Grab a fork, carefully drop your cookie bite into the melted chocolate. Remove with a fork. The great thing about using a fork is that all the excess chocolate drips down in between the tines of the fork so you're not left with gobs and gobs of chocolate - well, you know, unless you're into that sort of thing. I can see how that would be a possibility!
Once the bite is covered in chocolate, drizzle with caramel and garnish with coconut before the chocolate sets. When they're all covered and garnished, just pop them back in the fridge for 15 minutes or so. At that point, you are free to go at it!
I'd like to tell you that they will last a week, but you know what.... when it comes down to it, there's no way these things will last that long in your house. They're just that good!
Just a heads up for you all. There are going to be some changes going on at Mama Hen's Kitchen. I'm actually going to be starting the process of moving to a different blog platform/server/etc. I'm hoping to get things moving this weekend, if at all possible. The point is, things might be a little hairy and glitchy around MHK.
As for what's going to be new once things get moved over. Oh my, I'm so excited for the direction I'm going to be heading in. Yes, I'm still going to be focusing on food and recipes, but I have so much more to share. So much more motivational words to share. So much of more of me to share. Anyway, I'm looking forward to some of the new things ahead, and I hope you will bear with me in the move.
Does anyone have any tips for moving from Blogger to Wordpress? And has anyone ever experienced moving a registered domain on Blogger to another platform? That is my latest stress. I'm not sure how to get Blogger to "release" my domain name so I can move it to wherever I need to.... any tips? I'm currently reading Wordpress For Dummies, so I'm hoping it will help!
Hope you all have a fabulous weekend and that it's pretty and warm in your neck of the woods!
Monday, March 5, 2012
Brown Butter Choco Chip Almond Cookies
What inspires you? What turns that lightbulb on in your head? Is it a magazine? Nature? Other bloggers? Music? Pinterest, possibly? When you're inspired, how do you make the idea your own?
For me, I draw my inspiration from all around me. I'm always keeping my eyes open for something that will spark my next great idea. I'm inspired by foods at restaurants that I love. Just this weekend, I had some of the best soup I've ever had in my life, and I am now completely inspired to recreate this taste in my own kitchen.
These cookies are a tribute to someone truly inspiring. Someone who has changed my life. Someone who can whip up a chocolate cake like it's nobody's business. Someone who is real. Someone who doesn't sugar-coat or beat around the bush. Someone who has found her own voice in a community that is swimming with writers just trying to find their own niche that sets them apart from the rest. Someone who I have yet to meet. Someone who probably doesn't even know I exist. Regardless, I am so very proud of this woman because of her beautiful cookbook that has hit bookshelves across the nation, just four years after her blog, Joy the Baker, found its way across the interwebs. We all have to start somewhere, and it's very inspiring to know that Joy has once started in the same place I am. Granted, she's professionally trained and a bajillion times more talented and experienced than I am in the kitchen. But the point is, she started somewhere, and now she's doing book tours. And that, my friends, is incredibly inspiring to this blogging food-lovin' mama.
I am so excited to bring to you a recipe that was inspired by Joy Wilson. I have never made anything with brown butter. There has been a bunch of hype over brown butter, and I was excited to see what it was all about - and oh.em.gee, it is ever worth the extra step! I have also never tried to make the so-called perfect chocolate chip cookie. For some reason, none of the recipes I've seen in the past for the perfect cookie actually spoke to me. Until I was sipping on my Sunday morning coffee and reading through my new favorite cookbook. There were probably 10-20 recipes from the book that I wanted to get up and make right then and there, and I even happened to have most of the ingredients. I could've dog-earred just about every recipe, but I saved that privilege for just two perfect recipes that I knew would need to be made in the very near future. Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies is the first, with Chocolate Covered Coconut Macaroon Ice Cream a close second.
And boy did these cookies come through! I had never even thought to put molasses in a chocolate chip cookie. Thank you, Joy, for adding a new delicious dimension to my cookies! And thank you, Joy, for adding a beautiful new dimension to my life!
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Almond Cookies
slightly adapted from Joy the Baker Cookbook
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) plus 1 Tablespoon butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon molasses
1/2 cup 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 sliced almonds
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
Place 1 stick plus 1 Tablespoon butter in a medium-sized, silver bottomed skillet over medium heat. Allow butter to melt. Once completely melted, the butter will froth, crackle, and pop. Not gonna lie, the popping kinda scared me. I stood there with a clear lid hovering over the saucepan. No need to stir. Just swirl the pan a bit, but be careful... it will pop and splatter! Once the crackling subsides, keep an eye on the butter. The fat solids will start browning quickly, so pay attention. Once the butter solids reach a rich chestnut color, remove the pan from the heat and immediately transfer the butter to a small container so it stops cooking. Cool slightly.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the remaining 1 stick of butter with the granulated sugar. Cream on medium until light and fluffy - 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the vanilla extract and molasses, and beat until incorporated. I always spray my spoon with cooking spray before spooning out the molasses, so there isn't too much trouble getting it all out.
Once the brown butter has cooled slightly, pour into the creamed butter mixture, along with the brown sugar. Cream for about 2 minutes until well incorporated. Add the egg and egg yolk, and beat for 1 minute.
In a medium bowl, mix together flour, salt, and baking soda..
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until the flour is just incorporated. Fold in almonds and chocolate chips.
Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes while the oven preheats.
Preheat to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. Drop tablespoons of dough about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned on the outside, but still soft and tender in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
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Saturday, March 3, 2012
St. Patrick's Day Sugar Cookies
Because sometimes I wonder. I read all these food blogs, and everyone seems to be happy and productive all the time. Baking and blogging and crafting and seminar-ing and writing and just creating. All.The.Time! It would be really great if Pioneer Woman or Bakerella told me that sometimes they just feel blah and just want to mindlessly browse the internet for hours on end with no real purpose. That would make me feel so much better.
Anyway, all the blah's aside, today has been a great day so far. Yeah, I haven't really wanted to do a whole lot, but I forced myself to get up 7am and go to a Zumba class. Since the class, I haven't done a whole lot of anything, but the rest of the day ahead should be good. I'm actually heading back to the gym in a little bit to workout with my honey, who's also in this awesome mid-winter funk. Maybe we'll just work all this blahness right out of ourselves! Then we're off to dinner and then to a play my sister-in-law is in. Keeping busy = no more blah's!
You know what else beats the blah's? Rainbows and sequins!
I am very happy to say that my St. Patty's Day cookies turned out so much better than my Valentine's Day cookie fail.
My icing still requires a bit of tweaking and lots of practice, but the fact that, for the most part, the icing all stayed where it was supposed to go without running off the cookie makes me super excited to be so close to perfecting a great icing for cookie decorating. The cookie on the other hand. It's perfect! I found this recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe right around Christmas time when I was looking for some basic sugar cookies to decorate for Santa. They received a lot of compliments, and they've since been my go-to cookie for decorating. They stay melt-in-your-mouth soft for days. After sharing these cookies at work, my boss was thrilled that they were soft still on the second day! Cookie praise from the boss = ego boost for this Mama!
Perfect Sugar Cookie
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
(makes 2-3 dozen cookies)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened to cool room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest (from about 1 lemon)
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Add vanilla extract, almond extract and lemon zest; mix. Add two cups flour, baking powder and salt. Mix. Add remaining flour and mix just until flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth and soft.
Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes (2 hours preferably). Dust a counter with powdered sugar or flour and roll the dough to desired thickness.
Cut the dough into shapes. Place the cookies on a lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes. Keep in mind that the cookies won’t appear browned at all when they are done baking so don’t let them overbake!
Cool the cookies completely on a wire rack before frosting.
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Thursday, March 1, 2012
Samoa Cupcakes
Hello March! Ahhh, a month that, in my mind, should mean blue skies, green grass, birds chirping, and warm-ish walks in the evenings. That's what March should look like. Instead, the entire Salt Lake Valley is blanketed in white fluffy cold stuff, and I had to scrape layers of ice off my car this morning. I'm pretty sure I'm not ok with this sort of definition of March. What does your March 1st look like? Any signs of warmer weather? Or is it still snowing in your neck of the woods? I sure hope you guys are all luckier and are able to stop wearing your fur-lined parkas sometime soon! Seems as though I'll be wearing mine for awhile - except, strangely, it seems we're supposed to be hitting the high-50's this weekend ?? weird. But I'm not complaining.
If the first day of March has disappointed you in the way it has me, I am very happy to tell you that I have some good news for you all. March is going to be a deliciously exciting month here at MHK. I'm starting something new. Something that I hope I can get you guys excited about. I am proud to announce a new feature of Mama Hen's Kitchen called Ingredient of the Month. It's a little bit like Iron Chef. I'm given an ingredient and run with it in as many ways as I can. I hope to bring you a fun, unique, or seasonally-inspired ingredient each month and provide you with a handful of recipes featuring that ingredient. I would love to get some ideas or requests from you guys on some ingredients you would like to see. It would be fun if I could get some challenging/not-so-common ingredients. Please let me know down in the comments if you think of something you would like me to feature some month.
This month is exciting. Did you know that it's Girl Scout Cookie season? Did you know that I have a very strong passion for Samoa Cookies (formerly known as: Caramel Delites)? The vanilla cookie dipped in chocolate and topped with caramelly-coconut = perfection in my mouth! I have yet to buy a box of these this season, because I know that buying them only means that I will devour the entire box in about 1.27 minutes. But I have managed to create some delicious treats that emulate the features that make up a Samoa cookie. Hold on to your chairs people, cause my very first featured ingredient is Samoas! It really can't get much better than that! March is going to be a difficult month to top, but I'm up for the challenge.
My first recipe is one that I can't say enough good things about. A moist vanilla cupcake, filled with that gooey caramelly-coconut mixture, topped with the best vanilla buttercream I've ever had, drizzled with chocolate, and topped with toasted coconut. Do I have your attention yet?!
The vanilla cupcake itself is just perfection. I have written about it before and how it will serve as the base of so many creations to come. I first got this recipe from Sweetapolita, and I am forever greatful for the recipe. There was no tweaking needed. No adding, no subtracting. Just perfect from the get-go.
And the buttercream. Let me just take a moment to thank Meaghan from The Decorated Cookie, because oh.em.gee... THE best vanilla buttercream I've ever had. It's bakery-style. This frosting is what took my cupcakes from home-baked to that bakery-bought taste we all yearn for. Just look at it! Fluffy perfection that holds its shape and tastes divine!
Without further ado, I am proud to present to you, Samoa Cupcakes!
Samoa Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes
Ingredients
3/4 cups self-rising flour
scant 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (just under 3/4 cups)1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cups white sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
for filling
about 1 cup caramel squares
1 cup coconut flakes, toasted
1 Tablespoon milk
for buttercream
1/2 cup (1 stick), plus 2 Tablespoons, unsalted butter, softened
4 1/2 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar
3-6 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
for garnish
3/4 cup milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1-2 Tablespoons milk
In a small bowl, combine the flours and set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Mix the milk and vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla mixture. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat.
Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners. With my small cookie scoop, I used two scoops-worth into each baking cup to fill about 2/3's of the way full.
Bake in the middle of the oven until tops turn golden brown and toothpick or cake-tester comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.
Cool the cupcakes in tins for about 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before filling and icing.
Fill a pastry bag, fitted with a large tip, with the filling. Stick the tip almost all the way down the center of the cupcake and fill to the top. Like I said before, work as fast as you can so the filling stays hot.
You could also cut your cupcakes in half and just spoon the filling in between, making a delicious sandwich cupcake! I will say that even though this isn't the prettiest option, it's definitely the tastiest, since you get more gooey filling with this option than you would in the first option.
To make buttercream:
Cream the butter with a mixer. Add 1.5 cups confectioner’s sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, blending well with each addition (mixture may be dry and crumbly). Add 3 tablespoons milk and vanilla and blend. Blend in remaining confectioner’s sugar. Add more milk (about 3 tablespoons) until desired consistency is reached. Add more milk to thin and more sugar to thicken. Pipe on completely cooled and filled cupcakes.
For chocolate ganache drizzle:
Melt chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl, stirring every 20 seconds or so, until all chocolate chips are melted. Add milk in small amounts and whisk until completely smooth.
Drizzle on top of buttercream through a piping bag or piping container. Top with toasted coconut. Enjoy with a tall glass of almond, soy, or cow's!
I hope you're ready for some chocolate-y, coconut-y, caramel-y treats this month. I can't wait to share them all with you! You won't want to miss one post! Sure, there will be your normal dinners, muffins, and drinks, but they'll be sprinkled with doses of my favorite Girl Scout cookie. To ensure you don't miss a post, be sure to follow Mama Hen's Kitchen on Bloglovin', Like MHK on Facebook, or sign up for email subscriptions. (over to the right)
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Oooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls
Question for ya'. Now that Picnik is closing, or changing directions, or whatever it's doing, what's your plan of action for photo editing? I don't have Photoshop. I've used Picasa, but I don't love it as much as Picnik. What are my options? Has anyone else found a good solution? The sad day is only a couple months away, and I need to come up with something soon! I am going to start researching. That is my homework to myself.
As for me getting over this nasty bug, I'm not quite 100% yet. Actually I'm still not able to keep any food down. The problem is that I'm so hungry and food actually sounds good! My stomach is just against me I guess. And what better way to torture myself than writing about these aMAZing cinnamon rolls.
Really, I've made my fair share of cinnamon rolls. Some with chocolate chips. Some that don't require a billion hours of rising time. (really, when you're waiting for cinnamon rolls to rise, it feels like an eternity!) Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls will always have a special place in my heart with their uniquely delicious maple-flavored icing. But these cinnamon rolls are probably the best version I've ever made. It's probably a good thing I got sick on Sunday shortly after making these, otherwise I would have been tempted to eat the entire batch!
And sure, there's that 2-hour waiting time required for the dough to rise, but do you know what I think about that? Two hours is the perfect amount of time to whip up a batch of vanilla cupcakes and then drink some coffee while browsing your latest Pinterest addiction! By the time you've hit "see more pins" about 5 times, your dough will have risen, and you will be just 30 minutes away from heaven in your mouth! Just enough time to pin a little more... or you know, do something productive, if you're that sort of person.
It's really funny how these things turn out, but I was already planning on posting these beauts tonight, when I realized it was National Sticky Buns Day! Now, I know this isn't technically a sticky bun, per say, due to it's white icing, as opposed to a sticky bun's clear gooey icing. But you know what I think? If it's a swirly cinnamon-y bun with some sort of icing on top, I think it's worth celebrating!
This is another recipe that comes from The Garden of Vegan, one of my favorite cookbooks. Of course I managed, once again, to turn a perfectly relatively healthy vegan recipe into a dairy-filled treat. Of course you could use margarine in place of the butter I used, and a vegan cream-cheese substitute in place of my cream cheese in the icing. Either way, the results will be oooey-gooey goodness. This I can promise! I went against my norm and made something that doesn't actually require the KitchenAid mixer. No need for fancy gadgets here. Just some good ole' fashioned baking where you actually get your hands dirty. Perfect for when your family is still sleeping and you want to surprise them with baked goods!
Oooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls
adapted from The Garden of Vegan
makes about 12 rolls
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 teaspoons baking yeast
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature (half a stick)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
for icing
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 Tablespoon butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
In a large bowl, stir together the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. While this is resting, mix together the softened butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and set aside.
Add the flour and salt to the yeast, and stir until a dough forms.
On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for 3-5 minutes. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, until it is approximately the size of a cookie sheet. Spread the butter and cinnamon mixture on dough and top evenly with brown sugar.
Roll up the dough and cut into rolls about 1/2 inch thick. Place buns in an 8- or 9-inch square baking dish. Cover with cloth and let rise for 2 hours.
let me lay my head down on your cinnamon pillow
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
"oh no! i'm naked!"
While baking, mix together your cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar to make your icing. It's really just that easy. I guess I did use the mixer for this, but that's ok, since your family has probably already been awakened by the smells of cinnamon wafting into their dreams. Slather warm cinnamon rolls in this delicious icing.
he kinda needs some friends, huh?
Enjoy!
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{Newlyweds Blog}
{Mrs. Fox's Sweets}
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