Coconut Madeleines

Two months ago (almost to the day!), I married my best friend. Now, in just over a month, it's my BFF Rose Sydney's turn! Sydney and Corey are absolutely perfect for each other, and I am so excited for them! And I was so fortunate to have her as my maid of honor, I feel truly honored have the opportunity to return the favor.

To begin the celebrations, her mom threw a super fun bridal shower for her this last weekend, and I got to make dessert! ...and this super classy maid of honor couldn't let her be under-dressed for her big party. :)

I was very excited when Sydney's mom asked me to provide dessert for her shower! These are the ladies who bought me my epic Kitchenaid stand mixer as a wedding gift, so the least I could do would be to bake them some delicious goodies! I had a million extravagant ideas at first, from an epic cake to little wedding dress-shaped cookies all decorated with fun frosting. But ultimately I decided to go with these little coconut madeleines, as a simple yet elegant dessert.

I loved the idea of having little individual dessert items that people could just grab and eat, without the hassle of having to cut slices out of a whole cake. And the unfussy nature of these little goodies kept the mood happy and casual. They were a huge hit... with the light buttery flavor we all know and love in a good madeleine cake, and just a hint of exotic coconut. The addition of chocolate gave them an extra-special touch... just right for a special yet light-hearted occasion.

And the bridal shower was a blast! Thanks Angie for throwing a great party! And Sydney, I hope you enjoyed your day... can't wait to celebrate the big one with you soon!

Peach & Blueberry Tart

Where has summer gone? It seems like just yesterday that I was counting down the days until I was finished with RT school, and now I look up and it's September. This has honestly been one of the greatest summers of my life - for many obvious reasons - so why does it have to be over? *whine*

Well I intend to hold onto it for as long as I can... with sweet summer peaches and juicy blueberries, baked into this simple yet amazing tart.

Seriously, this tart could not be more simple. The filling is nothing but fresh fruit, fruit preserves, and a little cornstarch. Definitely a case where simple is better. The crust - little more than ground pecans and whole whet pastry flour - is a stark complement to the sweet fruit filling. Nutty and crumbly... the perfect bite to offset the silky smooth peaches. It's a substantial dessert, which will leave you feeling happily sated without any discomfort and very little guilt. But hurry friends... these summer fruits won't be around much longer! Better make it while you can!

Bachelors' Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

I can hardly believe that my wedding is a mere 8 days away. It's been over a year in the making, and it's always seemed so far off until now... it's quite unreal to think that soon it will be over. To celebrate our last weekend as unmarried people, Dane and I are going our separate ways to celebrate with our bestest friends. While I'm renting a hotel room with my girls downtown for some bar-hopping excitement, Dane chose to spend his bachelor weekend in the mountains with his buddies at his uncle's cabin. So - being the best fiance ever - I decided to bake some peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies to send with him, in the hopes that he and the boys won't completely forget me while they're away.

This is a tried and true - and super easy - cookie recipe. Peanut butter cookies are Dane's absolute favorites, so I've made them more than a few times, but this time I thought I'd make them extra special and add chocolate chips. Nothing crazy, but a little more fun. They're soft and distinctly peanut buttery as a peanut butter cookie should be, and I added just enough chocolate chips to lend a little bit more sweetness but not enough to overpower and make you think you're eating a completely different cookie. I thought they were pretty darn delicious... and I hope the boys do too! Have a great time this weekend guys! Try not to do anything too crazy, okay?

Chicken Enchiladas

I have been on the hunt for a good enchilada recipe for a very long time. Enchiladas have always been a favorite item to order at Mexican restaurants and I've always wanted to make them at home, but I've never found a sauce recipe I could stand. Fillings are easy. You can really fill enchiladas with whatever you want... chicken, shredded beef, cheese, beans... anything you want to your liking. But the sauce - yes, the perfect sauce always eluded me. Until now.

None of the sauces I tried before were ever quite right. They were always too spicy, too smokey, too... weird. But this one totally fit the bill. The flavor is out of this world. Don't worry when you see that the sauce calls for two whole onions, it's not a typo. It's totally on purpose, because that's where all the awesome flavor comes from. The onion adds a hearty, body-ful flavor to the sauce, that none of the other sauces have ever achieved. And, as if blending the sauce didn't make give it a creamy-enough texture all by itself, the last minute addition of just a little sour cream makes it rich without making it heavy. I like this sauce so much I think I might make extra next time and freeze some to have on hand.

But the one thing I was not prepared for was how BIG these enchiladas are. I'm used to wimpy enchiladas made with little corn tortillas, small enough that I usually need to eat two to get full. So when I saw that this recipe only made six enchiladas I was a bit worried. But don't fret guys... as you can see from the photos, these are monster enchiladas. I'm almost tempted to call them smothered burritos instead, because that's essentially what they are. But an enchilada by any other name tastes just as delicious. So call them what you will. But promise me you'll make them? You'll be very glad you did.

Pina Colada Cake

Next up on the dessert menu for our awesome graduation BBQ was this epic Pina Colada cake! I knew the peanut butter chocolate cake was going to be rich, even before I made it, so I knew we would need a lighter option for the cake table. As a self-admitted chocolate addict, it was very difficult not to pick another chocolate cake out of the book, but I realized that not everyone loves chocolate as much as I do and that we needed something completely different for our second cake.

Enter this fine piece of dessert.

Light, brown sugar cake... pineapple-rum filling... and rich, coconut buttercream with toasty flakes of sweet coconut... what's not to love? It was the perfect airy, tropical counterpart to the other cake. It was sweet, it was boozy, and oh boy was it good. I even sent a few doggie bags home, because everyone wanted more.

I won't lie to you though... this cake was more work than I honestly expected. First, the pineapple filling took almost an hour to thicken like it was supposed to. Luckily I made it up the night before and didn't have to wait on it! Then, the frosting nearly gave me a heat attack. I decided to frost and decorate the cake the morning of the party, thinking it wouldn't take that long, but the first time I made the frosting I added the butter too soon and it separated into an oily mess and I had to make it all over again. So learn from me, and make sure you whip the egg whites and syrup until they're glossy before you add the butter! By some stroke of luck I had left extra eggs out overnight, but I hadn't softened any extra butter so I had to do it in the microwave and pray that the thinner butter would work. So I tried again. I boiled more syrup. I whipped more egg whites. And I whipped and whipped and whipped until I was afraid my mixer would overheat. And just when I had resigned myself to the idea that I would have to run to Albertson's and buy canned frosting so I could at least serve the damn cake... it came together. It was light and fluffy and glossy, just like it was supposed to be. 

And it was totally worth it. :)

So if you've got a tropical party coming up soon or any occasion that needs a spectacular cake that tastes like the beach, give this cake a try. It might be take a little extra work, but trust me... it won't disappoint.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

A month or so ago when my family was talking about the BBQ we would have in celebration of Megan and I graduating this spring, I had a crazy idea... I wanted to make the cake for the event. Since our graduations were so close together, Megan and I agreed that we'd just have one BBQ for the both of us, instead of one for each. But graduation is no small event for either of us. Megan was born with a chromosomal abnormality and, when she was a baby, no one was even sure how long she'd live... her graduation from high school is a momentous feat. And of course, I've worked hard to get myself through college. So I decided that even if we couldn't each have our own special party, we at least each deserved our own special cake.

So, always eager to buy a new cookbook, I bought Sky High Cakes for inspiration. Together, Megan and I decided what cakes we would have for our BBQ... and I was not a bit surprised when Megan chose one covered in chocolate and peanut butter. This kid would eat a whole jar of peanut butter with a spoon if we let her.

And oh boy... did she pick a delicious cake.

Once we cut into the cakes there was no time to get photos of the individual slices... they went too fast! This cake was by far the favorite too, and there wasn't crumb left of it by the end of the night. This cake was downright sinful. The layers of cake were fudgy, and the creamy peanut butter frosting melted in your mouth like butter in the oven. And, even though I didn't think it was possible, the chocolate-peanut butter glaze took the sinful flavor of this to a whole 'nother level. It was rich and creamy, and chocolatey, and peanut buttery... and amazing. 

After they finished with a piece of this cake I had people trying to hire to make their birthday cakes for them! My grandmother thinks I ought to turn cake-baking into a side business... and someone even suggested that I should make my own wedding cake, haha! And to be honest, I don't need the encouragement, because I'd already thought of that myself. But that would be crazy, right? Who needs the stress of putting a cake together the day before her wedding? Right? :)

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Next on the menu for my Thank-You muffin marathon were these amazing blueberry streusel muffins. I felt like I needed a good tried-and-true flavor to go with some of the more adventurous flavors I had going with the other muffins, and these guys totally fit the bill. Even though they weren't the overall favorite everyone said they enjoyed them, and one of my professors (who claims to be a blueberry muffin connoisseur) apparently spent the day trying to talk everyone else into giving him theirs.

But even if you're not a blueberry muffin expert, everyone loves a good blueberry muffin. Soft and subtly sweet with a few sour pops of juicy blueberries... no one can resist a good one. But this is no ordinary blueberry muffin recipe, friends. This is quite possibly the blueberry muffin recipe. This muffin is moist and crumbly and chock full of blueberries, with just a light hint of lemon. I won't lie... it's less like a muffin and more like an individual lemon-blueberry pound cake. And oh boy is it comforting. Enjoy with a cold glass of milk, and you just might forget about that 3 o'clock deadline.

Apple-Pecan Muffins

Alright... recipe time! First on the docket from the Thank-You Muffin marathon: apple-pecan muffins. I'll be honest, guys, this was my least favorite of all the muffins I made for my professors. Don't get me wrong, these guys are still very tasty... they just kind of look like the runt of the litter next to super stars like blueberry streusel and peanut butter chocolate chip. Made with whole-wheat flour and more applesauce than oil, these muffins definitely fit into the better-for-you category too, which is part of why I chose to include them. The little chunks of apple together with the pecan topping add a very nice crunchy-chewy factor, and their dense texture makes these muffins the perfect mate to a small bowl of vanilla yogurt for breakfast. So if you're looking for a muffin that boasts both flavor and health, look no further. Step on up and try these this weekend!

Thank-You Muffins

Well friends, I have officially finished respiratory therapy school. Oh what am I saying... that sentence totally deserves an exclamation point. I've officially finished RT school, whoo hoo!!!

It's been a long hard road to get here. BSU's RT program is one of the toughest in the country, but also with one of the highest passing registry rates. What this really means: these professors put your brain through the ringer, feed you important information until don't think you mentally have room for it anymore, teach you concepts that you never think you'll be able to wrap your head around... but when it's all said and done 95% of BSU's students pass the written registry on their first try, and, more importantly, they graduate some of the most skilled and knowledgeable RT's in the country. I am proud to be among this year's graduates.

But along with mentally torturing their students, the professors of the BSU RT program are also some of the kindest, most generous people I've ever known. Each of them genuinely cares about the success of every student, and they will go to great lengths to ensure that each person understands the material. Their doors are always open, for a question or a conversation. They're fantastic examples of great clinicians and great people. And for that I feel I owe them the world.

So, as puny a gift as it seems in comparison to the tireless hours of work they've put into my success, I made each of them a little gift of muffins in gratitude. Of course, I couldn't make just one kind of muffin... you may remember the episode this last Christmas in which I made two different kinds of cookies and chocolate-covered pretzels, afterall. No, I made four different kinds of muffins. Overkill? Maybe. But the effort of one afternoon of baking and a messy kitchen pales in comparison to the hard work of my lovely professors. Plus, don't tell anyone... but it was kind of fun too. After a long semester of stress and burn out, it was nice to be able to spend a whole day in my kitchen guilt-free.

On the menu...

Apple-Pecan Muffins, from Ellie Krieger. A healthier option for those concerned with that kind of thing. (Expect to see a post with this recipe very soon.)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins, from Annie's Eats. Talk about yum! These lovely little treats taste more like a peanut butter cookie than a muffin! Good thing I've given most of the leftovers away, because I totally eat a whole batch by myself with a gallon of milk.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins, from Joy of Baking. These muffins are moist and crumbly, with a gratuitous amount of blueberries... perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack. (Another post coming soon with this recipe too.)

And finally, Raspberry Muffins, again from Annie's Eats. Even though these guys were probably the least photogenic of the bunch, they were my favorite in terms of flavor. They're moist and subtly sweet, with big raspberry flavor. Annie's recipe features fleur de sel, but I used kosher salt instead since fleur de sel is just ridiculously expensive. I also left out the coarse sugar because I didn't have it, but I didn't feel like they were missing anything at all. This recipe will definitely be going in my back pocket for future muffin-requiring occasions!

I dropped off the muffins yesterday morning, and they got rave reviews! It sounds like favorites were the raspberry and peanut butter chocolate chip, although I have one professor who was apparently trying to steal everyone else's blueberry. I'm just glad everyone enjoyed them! I'm going to miss these people, and I hope they know just how much I appreciate everything they've done for us. 

Now on to graduation tomorrow! Whoo hoo!

Chorizo-Pepper Empanadas

Feliz Cinco de Mayo, mis amigos! I have to work this evening, so Dane and I celebrated this festive occasion last night. Can't let a little thing like work keep me from enjoying some good Mexican food and a cold Corona. :)

My favorite magazine subscription is to Better Homes and Gardens, and when I flipped through the food section and saw this recipe I immediately ripped it out and put it on the menu for this week. It's not traditional by any means - I'm sure puff pastry is not something you'll easily find in Mexico, after all - but it is a fantastic twist on an old idea. These little hand pies are simply scrumptious, and would make a perfect appetizer for a Mexican-themed party since they're just irresistibly pop-able. For Dane and I though, we just ate a few with some chips and fresh salsa on the side, and they made a great meal! The puff pastry provides a wonderful, flaky crust that just melts in your mouth, while the filling is amazingly flavorful and complex, with a lovely little kick. Mexican chorizo can be overwhelming if not paired well, but cooking it down with other flavors really mellows it out and brings out its flavor without going overboard. We have a little bit of the filling left over, and I'm definitely seeing some breakfast burritos in our future, too.

Give this a try and you'll see why... I'll definitely be making these again!

Meatball and Pepper Heroes

Ok, so I'll confess... these aren't the most photogenic works of culinary art. In fact, they're hardly even polite to eat, since much of the saucy goodness will inevitably wind up on your face and your hands. But don't let the mess and bad pictures fool you, friends - these meatball subs are spectacular. Just make sure you invest in some heavy-duty napkins before you dig in. :)

I've been on the hunt for a good meatball recipe for quite some time, and I was not disappointed by this one at all! True to Ellie Krieger form, this recipe is packed with flavor and healthful goodness in just the right proportions. I was hesitant to try it at first since it included shredded carrot in the meatballs themselves, but I was surprised to find that this addition easily replaced some of the usual breading you'd include and was hardly even noticeable. For those of you with children or otherwise picky eaters in the house, this could be a really good trick to sneaking them more veggies! Ellie's recipe included a homemade sauce that sounded too smoky for my taste, so I simply substituted some jarred marinara that I happened to have in the cupboard, with much success. The sandwich recipe is easily adaptable for anyone's tastes, but I was mostly excited to find such a healthy, flavorful way to make meatballs... and you can bet I'll be using it in the future for other meatball-worthy recipes.

Cinnamon Twists with Lemon-Honey Dipping Sauce

Step over, Dane... I have a new love. Puff pastry. I mean, really... where has this stuff been all my life? I can't believe this is the first recipe I've ever made with puff pastry. I've seen lots of recipes that include it over the years, but I'd never actually tried working with it until today. Hahahaha... now I'm going to have to keep myself from making every recipe including puff pastry known to man.

These little twists are fantastic. They were the perfect addition to our usual Sunday morning breakfast of maple bacon and coffee. Lightly crunchy on the outside, flaky and airy on the inside, with a hint of cinnamon-sweetness... they were delicious dipped in the accompanying dipping sauce or simply dunked in coffee. I will warn you though, the dipping sauce is very lemony. I think next time I'll use less lemon juice, or I might even leave it out altogether and use a little brewed coffee to replace the needed liquid. But with or without the sauce, you need to try these twists. Make them today. They're too easy and too delicious to wait.

Bread of the Month: Fougasse

In the spirit of challenge and personal growth, I have set a goal for myself: a different kind of bread from my Dough cookbook every month for the next year. It's a fairly attainable goal - even with as busy as I am these days, it's easy enough to block out one afternoon a month to devote to the art of breadmaking. I bought this cookbook with the intention of putting it to good use, so why not make a project out of it? Plus, I'm one of those people who needs plans and deadlines, otherwise tasks as time-consuming as this one can easily get lost in the sea of ideas I have and fall prey to procrastination. So that's the plan! One bread recipe a month for a year.

This month's bread is one that looks way more complicated than it is: the fougasse. The author, Richard, says that he likes to use this as a beginner's recipe for the students in his breadmaking classes, because it's so simple and the results are impressive. It's a simple white bread recipe, cut into four or six pieces and then strategically cut to look like a leaf. That's it! 

However, as I mentioned in my original post about this book, the French method of working the dough is a different and interesting process. So, to briefly illustrate, I employed the help of my hubby-to-be to take pictures of me working the dough, so you can kind of see what I'm talking about. We were having issues getting the camera to focus well with the poor lighting in the kitchen, so bear with me, but I think you'll still get the idea. So, without further ado, let's make some bread!

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Madeleines

What could possibly be more romantic than strawberries and chocolate? I mean c'mon... this combination just screams Valentine's Day.

It seems that my coworkers have grown a little accustomed to me bringing sweets in on the weekends I work, so I promised something extra special for this weekend since V-Day is on Monday. And I just couldn't get the strawberries and chocolate idea out of my head! Strawberry cupcakes with chocolate frosting sounded nice at first, but a little overdone, I thought. Then one day, as I ate a buttery little madeleine cookie while at coffee with a friend, it hit me... chocolate-dipped strawberry madeleines! It would be like eating a chocolate-dipped strawberry - small, delicate, and strawberry sweet with luscious chocolate - only in cake/cookie form!

I searched and searched for such a recipe, but eventually resigned myself to the idea that I'd have to create my own... a little scary for me at this point, with my very novice baking skills. But I must admit, they didn't turn out half bad! I chose to use real frozen strawberries to flavor the madeleines rather than jello powder, as I really prefer unprocessed, non-chemical ingredients in my food. (I also took a little inspiration from this strawberry cake recipe from Courtney at Cook Like a Champion.) Worried about the moisture content of these little cakes, I opted to chop the strawberries into small pieces rather than puree them for my first attempt, but I wound up adding the drained juices for extra strawberry flavor anyway so I think pureeing next time might still be successful. Three other things I learned from this little experiment of mine: 1) Add more food coloring next time. The batter was a nice bright pink before baking, but (as you can see) they faded by the time I took them out of the oven. 2) Don't overfill the madeleine pans. They spread and rise as they bake, so one cookie scoop is plenty. Tapping the pan gently on the counter after filling also helps the batter to spread out evenly. and 3) Don't overbake! While they still taste almost as good, they quickly go from a nice golden color to brown with just a minute or two's alteration. Overall I think this is a recipe I think I'll keep playing with... they still turned out pretty scrumptious, but I do think there is some room for improvement.

Here is the recipe, as made this weekend.

Corn Bread Muffins

What a game this weekend, eh? I didn't really have my heart set on either team winning this year's super bowl - my fall schedule kept me too busy to keep up with football this season. But no matter which team you were rooting for you've gotta admit, it was an entertaining game at least!

I know it's a little late to be posting a game-worthy recipe... the super bowl (and football season) is over, afterall. But, still, I can't quit thinking about that delicious chili my girlfriend Dawn made for game day, and how well these little corn bread muffins went with it.

This recipe is sooo worth making more than just once a year. These savory little muffins are perfect for serving with chili or stew or soup... or anything, for that matter! I'll be the first to admit they are a bit dry, but I think that's what makes them go so well with any bowl of steaming broth. And with just a hint of sugar, this corn bread recipe can easily become a sweet breakfast or dessert... top with a little butter and honey or maple syrup, and enjoy!

Normally, if I'm baking for just Dane and I, I pour all of the batter into a greased pie plate and eat it in pie-like slices, but I find that muffins are perfect for gatherings since everyone can just grab one or two without having to worry about slicing it. One batch makes about 10-12 muffins, depending on how much batter you use for each, so I usually double the recipe if I'm planning to take them somewhere. No one wants to run out, after all!

Not-Diet Brownies

I know, I know... I'm supposed to be eating healthier and lighter these days, since I need to make sure I fit into that wedding dress in August. But over the years I've learned one thing about myself and sweets - if I'm really craving something specific, and especially if it's chocolate, I might as well just eat it. I know all the little low calorie tricks in the book about how to curb a chocolate craving... 60-calorie pudding cups, a cup of diet hot chocolate, a teensie-weensie handful of chocolate chips... trust me, I've tried them all. But if I'm craving a brownie or a candy bar or a piece of cake - and if, heaven for bid, it's already in the house - no amount of 60-calorie pudding is going to satisfy me... after I've eaten all six cups in the pack I usually still wind up eating the thing I was craving in the first place. Might as well just eat what I want and enjoy it! ...and then make sure I'm a super good girl for the rest of the week. :)

Well, these brownies are a product of such cravings.

I don't know what was going on, but a couple of weeks ago all the food bloggers I read were making something with chocolate. Annalise at And Now for Something Completely Delicious posted this sinful looking recipe about Brownie Chunk Cheesecake... and then there was this Almond Joy Cheesecake from The Curvy Carrot... and then the Giant Double Chocolate Cookies from Annie of Annie's Eats... it looked like chocolate cravings were going around like the flu! The more decadent pictures I saw the more I wanted needed chocolate. And my coworkers kept asking me when I was going to bring goodies in again... seems those cookies I brought in over Christmas were quite the hit...

...so I caved. I'd like to say that I made these wonderful, fudgy brownies for my coworkers, but they were really for me. And I intended to only eat one, but that little glass of milk, sitting there still half-full after my first one, was just begging for one more. Wedding diet approved? No. Totally worth it? Oooh yes.

Dinner Party: Italian Cream Cake

I am a firm believer that one cannot have a party without dessert. :)

This cake was the crown jewel of my dinner party. All things considered, it turned out quite beautiful... as a very novice cake decorator, my frosting didn't turn out quite as smooth as I had hoped, but it still made a pretty centerpiece for the table, nonetheless. And that's just the outside. The cake itself was light and melt-in-your-mouth moist with a mature, sweet flavor thanks to the toasted pecans and coconut that went into the batter. And while I was afraid that the cream cheese frosting would be too rich, it was the perfect compliment to the nutty, decadent cake... creamy and sweet without overpowering the other flavors in the cake. The three layers were pretty to look at once it was cut too, and gave a little testament to the amount of work than went into it, as well.

Tasty Gifts: Pumpkin Bread

Every year at Christmas it seems there are more people to give to than I have money to spend on them. Between friends and family and extended family... the list goes on and on. And especially when someone is kind enough to give something to me, I cannot help feeling like I should give something in return.

Baked goods are a wonderful, relatively cheap and easy way to show you care. As long as you stick to a simple recipe - and something with a high yield helps too - you can give something tasty and comforting to many different people, without breaking the bank or your arms. And people say that it's the thought that counts anyway... that time is often a better gift than things... well, giving baked goods offers the opportunity to give plenty of both. :)

Following this principal, I decided that I'd bake a loaf of pumpkin bread for each person I wanted to give a little something to but couldn't afford to buy for this year. This seemed a relatively easy idea at first... until my list kept growing as I thought of more people, and I wound up committed to over 12 loaves of bread. Luckily this recipe makes 2 loaves per batch, haha!

This recipe is one that I tried earlier this fall, and one I fell in love with immediately. A moist yet dense bread, this sweet and spicy loaf lends itself well to a light slathering of butter and a warm cup of coffee. It makes for a lovely addition to breakfast - one of the last things many people have time think about this time of year - so it's easy to grab a slice and a cup of coffee and go! It's also sweet enough to act as dessert after dinner, if one so desires. Plus, who can resist pumpkin during the holidays?

Cranberry-Orange Pinwheels

Phew... what a crazy week it's been since I last talked to you! It seems like Christmas is always super-busy, no matter how much pre-planning goes into it. But despite the craziness, I had one of the best Christmases in recent memory this year.

As I mentioned before, I did a whole lot of baking in the week prior to Christmas. I'm not sure where all of my ambition came from - trying to keep up with my fellow food bloggers perhaps! - but this year I decided that I wanted to contribute something homemade to each holiday gathering I could. I always hate walking into a party empty handed, and with all the cooking and baking I've been doing it just didn't seem right to bring anything store-bought. But why four kinds of cookies? Surely one or two would have sufficed. Haha... who knows... call me crazy, but it sounded like fun.

In this year's cookie bin: returning acts Coconut Macaroons and Raspberry Thumbprints, as well as newcomers Chocolate Crinkles and these tasty and pretty treats, Cranberry-Orange Pinwheels.

Lightly crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, these little gems are perfect for pairing with tea (or coffee or hot chocolate or apple cider...). With the sweetness and consistency of shortbread, these cookies are just sweet enough to curb a craving without sending you into sugar-overload, and they're light enough that even a few won't fill you up. Just a hint of orange in the cookie, combined with the nutty cranberry-pecan swirl, gives an instant feeling of Christmas. Plus they look festive, with that pretty little red swirl in the middle.

Bronco Cupcakes

While Boise may be the home of Bronco Nation, most of BSU's hardcore fans are in Las Vegas tonight. Boise State's football team has had a crazy season this year... undefeated and looking toward the Rose Bowl (if not the National Championship) until that fateful game in Nevada in late November. Once ranked happily at #4 in the BCS standings, my beloved Broncos found themselves ranked #10 and playing #19 Utah in the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl this evening... an appreciated and well-played game, but a bitter disappointment in comparison to the golden dream that was once on the horizon.

Prestigious or not, we're still proud of our Broncos and of a well-fought win in the Las Vegas Bowl. We do live in the home of the "Smurf turf," afterall. Dane and I invited some people over for the big game... we ordered a giant sandwich from Subway, bought a few bags of chips and some cheap soda and beer... and I decided to make blue cupcakes in honor of our beloved team. :)

As you can see, the cupcakes came out more green than the true blue I was hoping for. But I put them in blue baking cups, topped with white frosting, and sprinkled some blue and orange nonpareils, and no one cared. They were tasty, and the sentiment was appreciated... and none were left by the end of the night, so I'd say they were a success. 

 For the cake, I chose to use a white cake recipe, thinking that it would be a better base for dyeing than something like, say, red velvet cake (which I considered using, substituting blue for the red food coloring). Whether it was the cake recipe, the type of food coloring I used, or the amount, my cupcakes turned out a weird teal color, so if I do these again I'll have to do some experimenting to figure out how to get a better blue. I had fully intended from the beginning to use blue and orange sprinkles, so I went with a good white frosting as a base... for which I chose a creamy frosting recipe. 

Click to read more. :)