Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

I like pie, but I am really picky about what pie I will eat. No fruit, no meringue, and the crust, well it just can't be brown. High maintenance?... Just when it comes to pie crust. There are certain things that once you make them homemade, you can't go back to store bought. One of those things is pie crust. I forgot to take pictures while making my crust so here's a recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Buttermilk-Pie-Crust/Detail.aspx. Pie crust can be complicated and frustrating so don't get short tempered, especially if it is your first attempt at pie crust. Now for the filling. O. My. Word. This thing is amazing and completely changed my view on pie. It's just like a gooey cookie cake with pie crust. If you like pie, you should make this. If you don't like pie, you should make this. Trust. It's worth it. Here's what you need for the filling

Butter, flour, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, pecans, and chocolate chips. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the eggs until foamy

Add the sugar, brown sugar, and flour

Mix those ingredients together until well combined. Add the butter

Beat that in on medium speed until the mixture is smooth. Lastly, add the pecans, chocolate chips, and vanilla

Fold all of that in

Pour the finished filling into a prepared and unbaked pie shell

(Don't judge my crust, I know it's not cute.) Now put the pie in the oven and bake! About halfway through baking you may need to line the crust with foil to keep from browning. Or you can set a piece of foil over the whole pie because sometimes the filling will get browned

I found this recipe at bakerella.com. Please give this website a visit to see the inside because I didn't get to take a picture of the inside. Here's the link to Bakerella's cookie pie: http://www.bakerella.com/chocolate-chip-cookie-pie…-oh-my/

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

1 unbaked pie crust (homemade or store-bought)

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, soft

2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

Roll out pie crust and shape in a 9 inch round pie pan. In a bowl of a mixer, beat eggs until foamy. Add flour and both sugars until combined. Beat in soft butter on medium speed until smooth. Fold in vanilla, chocolate chips, and pecans. Pour the finished filling into the prepared and unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes. (Check about half way through baking and cover with foil if necessary.) Let sit at least 20 minutes after baking. Serve warm or at room temp. and with ice cream if it floats your boat :) 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet cake is my favorite! I don't know what it is about it, maybe just the slight hint of cocoa, or the cream cheese frosting, but it is just perfect. I've searched long and hard for my favorite red velvet cake recipe and I'm pretty positive i've found it! Props to Bakerella. Here's what you need for the recipe

Flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, oil, red food coloring, vinegar, vanilla, eggs, and buttermilk. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients

Set that aside. In a another bowl, combine all the wet ingredients and whisk well

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry

Stir the two mixtures together until just combined

Using a large ice cream scoop, fill paper lined cupcake pans 2/3 way full with batter

Bake. Take out of the oven when a toothpick inserted comes out somewhat clean. If there are no crumbs on the toothpick, the cupcakes will be dry

Pull each cupcake out of the pans and let cool. While cooling, prepare the frosting. Here's what you need for the cream cheese frosting

Cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter

Add vanilla

Beat that in, then gradually add the powdered sugar

Beat in until smooth and fluffy

Scoop frosting onto wax paper, roll up, and stick in the piping bag (this is just to keep the frosting bag from getting dirty)

 Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes

And the inside of the cupcake..

These are super moist, tender, and flavorful. As of now, this is my go to red velvet and all of my taste testers agree :)

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 Tbs. cocoa powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 Tbs. vinegar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 oz. red food coloring

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and food coloring. Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture. Stir together until combined. Scoop into paper lined cupcake pans about 2/3 way full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until done. Take the cupcakes out of the pan and let cool. While cooling, prepare the frosting.

frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese

1 stick unsalted butter

2 tsp. vanilla

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until fluffy and smooth. (Usually, when I make frosting I make sure the butter and cream cheese are soft. This time when I made the frosting, I only let the cream cheese and butter sit about about 15-20 minutes. When I started making the frosting they were both still hard, but I just beat them together for a while with the mixer and believe it or not, cream cheese frosting has never turned out better for me.) Mix in the vanilla. Lastly, add the powdered sugar about a cup at a time, beating well after each addition and making sure there are no lumps. Spread/pipe finished frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. Eat up!

Texas Sheet Cake

This cake is SO simple and SO good. There are lots of different recipes out there for this cake, but I used my moms. She has been making this recipe for the longest time and it is so delicious, tender, and moist. It is just an all around perfect chocolate sheet cake. Every time I make this cake, I'm reminded that it does not have eggs. My mom says it's supposed to be like that, but I think she just forgot to include eggs when she was writing the recipe. Whatever it is, it turns out perfect every time so I guess the eggs really aren't necessary. Here's what you need for the sheet cake

Butter, crisco, water, cocoa powder, sugar, flour, buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla. In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar

Whisk together and set aside. In a medium size pot, combine butter, crisco, cocoa powder, and water

Whisk this constantly and bring to a boil

Turn off the heat and let sit about 5 minutes. After it has cooled a little bit, pour over the flour and sugar mixture

Gently stir that together until moistened and combined

Pour in the buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla

Fold that into the batter until just combined, being careful not to over mix. Pour into a greased 9x13 greased baking pan

Bake about 18 minutes and you will get this

Now prepare the frosting. Here's what you need

Butter, milk, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and vanilla. In a large pot, combined butter, cocoa powder, and milk

Bring that to a boil, whisking constantly (this can burn easily). Turn off the heat and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla. The finished frosting should be a pourable consistency. Pour over the warm sheet cake

Spread out evenly and it will be all glossy and pretty

Let the cake stand a couple of hours before cutting. (This will give the glaze time to set up). Here's the cake cut into

Now this isn't my picture. I gave the cake away and didn't get to take a picture of the inside, but this is EXACTLY what it looks like. (picture from sugar & spice blog).

Texas Sheet Cake

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1/2 cup crisco

1 stick unsalted butter

4 Tbs. cocoa powder

1 cup water

2/3 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and flour; set aside. In a medium size pot, combine crisco, butter, cocoa, and water over medium heat. Stir constantly and bring to a boil. Once the mixture has reached a boil, turn off the heat and let cool about 5 minutes. After you have let the chocolate mixture cool a little, pour on top of the flour and sugar mixture. Mix in until moistened and combined. Stir in buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Don't over bake! Now prepare the frosting.

Glaze:

1 stick unsalted butter

4 Tbs. cocoa powder

6 Tbs. milk

2- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

In a large pot, combine butter, cocoa, and milk. Bring that mixture to a boil (whisk constantly being careful not to burn). Turn off the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth and well combined. The icing should be pourable. Pour over the warm cake and spread out evenly. Let the cake set up about 2 hours before serving. Enjoy :)

Creamy Cheese Polenta

I have never been the biggest fan of grits, but o my word.. these changed my mind. They might be some of the most fattening things, but it is so worth it. These are cheesy, creamy, salty, and delicious. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. Here's what you need to make the polenta

Polenta (corn grits), water, heavy whipping cream, salt, butter, and parmesan cheese. In a saucepan, combine water, milk, and salt

cover and bring to a boil; add the polenta and give it a whisk

reduce heat. Let the polenta cook about 5 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds or so. It will start to thicken up after about a minute

once it thickens up, it might boil, just keep whisking it. Then add the butter and parmesan cheese

whisk that in vigorously until melted and combined. You can see the cheese all melty and stringy

Serve in a bowl with some extra parmesan cheese on top!

yum, yum, yum. This is one of my new obsessions.. not such a good one either

Creamy Cheese Polenta (grits)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups water

3/4 tsp. salt

1 cup polenta (corn grits)

4 Tbs. butter

2/3 cup shaved parmesan cheese

In a saucepan, combine heavy cream, water, and salt. Cover and bring that to a boil. Reduce heat and whisk in polenta. Stir about every 30 seconds until polenta thickens (about 1-2 minutes after cooking). After the mixture thickens, start whisking constantly. Let cook for 5 minutes total. Once the grits are finished cooking, remove from heat and add the butter and parmesan cheese. Whisk in vigorously, making sure the cheese and butter are melting and getting well combined (you may need to add more salt). Serve and garnish with a little extra parmesan cheese (optional).

Grasshopper Cupcakes

Last night I went over to the Coffey's house to bake something! If you don't know who the Coffey's are, you should get to know them because they are the best family you will ever meet. No, I am not exaggerating, you can ask sister number 1. We all decided on making chocolate cupcakes with mint buttercream! So here's what you need for the chocolate cupcake

Flour, sugar, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda, vanilla, buttermilk, eggs, boiling water, oil, and andes mints (optional). In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients

Stir them together then add the wet ingredients

Mix in until batter just becomes moist. Fold in the andes mints if you are using them

Pour batter into cupcake lined, or greased muffin pans and bake at 300 degrees for about 18-20 minutes

Here's the finished cupcakes!

Now prepare the mint frosting. You will need butter, powdered sugar, mint extract, milk, and green food coloring

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter until smooth

Add in the powdered sugar a cup at a time alternately with the milk. Once that is mixed in, add the mint extract and green food coloring

Yummy mint frosting

When the cupcakes are cooled, frost them as pretty as you can and garnish them with an andes mint! 

Here's the inside of the cupcakes. These babies were super moist

My lovely baking assistances! Aren't they cute?!

They did a wonderful job on the cupcakes! Here's the recipe

Grasshopper Cupcakes

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup oil

1 cup boiling water

2 tsp. vanilla

8 Andes mints, chopped (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the eggs, buttermilk, oil, boiling water, and vanilla until just moistened. Fold in the Andes mints. Scoop into greased or cupcake lined muffin tins. Bake at 300 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Let cool in the pans for about 2 minutes. Then take out of the pans and let cool completely. Prepare the frosting.

frosting:

2 sticks unsalted butter, soft

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/2-1 tsp. peppermint extract

green food coloring

In a large bowl, beat the butter. Alternately add in the powdered sugar and milk (adding more milk or powdered if needed). Beat in the extract and food coloring. Pipe onto the cooled cupcakes and garnish with andes mints and mini chocolate chips.