Cookies n Cream Cookies

I like to be redundant in my title, back off.  Can I just go on about how fantastic this week has been and it's only Tuesday? Yesterday I worked out and am sore as can be today and I love that feeling.  Today I started pastry school, nothing too special went on today (Kara!), but I will be sure to let you all know.  Except in class we were talking about what resources our land produces and someone shouted out weed.  I guess they weren't technically wrong on that one.  Today I got a call saying our soccer league starts up on Thursday. FINALLY. So excited for the potential Team Pup n Suds has.......NOT.  We will need 911 on speed dial.  And last but not least, I made these today and they are delicious.
Oh, and a shout out to my brother Phillip for doing the lighting for the picture. Happy? :D

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter - softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 (4.2 ounce) package Cookies n Cream pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups white chocolate chips
15 Oreo cookies - chopped

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Cream butter and sugars, add pudding mix until blended.
-Stir in the eggs and vanilla.
-In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda with a whisk then add it to the butter mixture.
-Stir in the chocolate chips and Oreo cookies.
-Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.
-Bake for 10 minutes.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Orange Muffins

Just to start this off my mom says to me, "I thought your muffins were good!" and somehow, I got lost in translation because I thought she said, "...and what about your muffin top?" WHAT! But my mamma didn't say that to me of course!  Anyways, these surprisingly were very easy to make. Mix some of this, stir some of that, and distribute.  Pretty simple. P.S. Where did the warm weather go? Why do I have my WINTER heater on in my room? grr. 

Ingredients:
For the muffins:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Zest of 1 orange

For the glaze:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1-2 tsp. orange zest

Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. 
-Line 24 muffin wells.
-In a medium mixing bowl, combine the milk, orange juice, sour cream, eggs and melted butter.  Whisk together to blend. 
-In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Stir to blend.
-Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. 
-Fold in the orange zest with a spatula.

-Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups. 
-Bake about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
-Let cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack placed over a baking sheet.

--To make the glaze, combine the orange juice, confectioners’ sugar, and orange zest in a small bowl. 
--Whisk together until smooth, adding more juice if necessary. 
--Drizzle the glaze over the muffins while they are still warm. 

Good Ole Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies from Grandma Sarah's Kitchen

I'm just a girl living my life. I start pastry school on Monday and I couldn't be more excited.  I need this like Grandma needs to learn the difference between a yellow finch and a duck.  I need this like I need gas in my car.  I live about .10 miles away from BP and I'm not quite sure I'll make it there next time I get in my car.  I like to live life on the edge.  Or at least something like that.  I'm a risky person; I drive around with my gas light on, AND I put more ground cinnamon than it calls for in the recipe.  Whoa.  Speaking of 'whoa', we're going to Keeneland this Saturday. "Whoa horsey, whoa!"....time for me to pretend I live life of the cultered class. Classy, classless? Which one will I be.  I'll say classy for the sake of my mom. Hey mom! Heyyyoooo.

Ingredients:
-2 sticks butter
-1 cup sugar
-1 cup brown sugar
-2 eggs
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-2 cups all purpose flour
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-3 cups old fashioned oats

Directions:
-Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and ground cinnamon into a small bowl. Set aside.
-In a medium bowl, mix together the butter and sugars.
-Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.
-Stir in flour mixture into cream mixture.
-Mix in oats until combined.
-Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour.
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-Grease cookies sheets, and roll the dough into appropriate size balls.
-Flatten each cookie with a fork dipped in sugar.
-Bake for 8-10 minutes, and allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet! Enjoy!

Holy, Cake Balls!

Just in time for Easter!......just for a fore warning I used a cake ball pan to make these. I've attempted to make cake balls time and time again and they turn out to be a nightmare.  So this past Christmas, my loving brother Phillip bought me a cake ball pan.  Anywho, it worked out fabulous.  Oh, and just so you don't fall out of your chair reading this....I went against all my morals and used a cake box mix. AHHH. Yeah, I did it. As for the chocolate coating.....somehow I managed to burn the chocolate the first time around.  Buzz kill.  So today I had to run out and buy more chocolate!  However, here they are in all their glory.

Ingredients:
1 Vanilla Cake Mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 oil
1 Box of Vanilla Instant Pudding
Candy Coating Chocolate - any color (s) you desire. I ended up using almost 2 pounds of chocolate to decorate these.
Candy Sticks

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Grease cake ball pans on both the bottom and top pan.
-Dump cake mix into large bowl and add 4 eggs, 1/2 cup milk (substituted instead of the water on the package), oil, and the vanilla pudding mix.
-Beat on low for 30 seconds, then beat on medium for 2 minutes - scraping sides of bowl.
-After everything is combined, the consistency will be very dense.  Pour batter into the bottom pan.
-Place top pan (with holes) on bottom pan.
-Bake for 25-30 minutes
-Let pan cool before removing top pan.

For decorating:
-When the cake balls are completely cooled, melt a small amount of the melting chocolate in the microwave for about 30 seconds or so.
-Dip the end of a candy stick into the melted chocolate, then insert into the cake ball.  This secures the cake ball to the stick as a glue.  Place in freezer for about 10 minutes to harden the chocolate.
-As they are in the freezer, heat a large amount of chocolate coating in the microwave until melted.
-Remove cake balls from freezer, and dip cake balls into the chocolate coating.
-Drizzle on any other accent colors your wish to use.  Or sprinkles, etc.
-The chocolate will harden and they're ready to enjoy!

Strawberry & Lemon Yogurt Cake. Holla.

Can't get enough of strawberries.  I want summer.  And I want to be laying by a pool. I want the smell of my tanning oil. And I want to be going to summer concerts at riverbend.  But those are everything I just want, I have everything I NEED right now.  Except today, I didn't have a kitchen table while baking, and I never realized I NEEDED that while baking.  I always thought I just used the counter. Nope. I was wrong. And now that the kitchen table is back, I love him. Yeah, he's a him. But I'm over it...onto the recipe. Oh, and according to Grandma, this cake is "heavenly. you have to take a bite and just keep it there and think about it." So do so. Thanks..

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter - softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 Tb. lemon juice - divided
Zest of 1 lemon
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour - divided
1/2 tsp. baking sod
1/2tsp. salt
8 oz. plain or vanilla, Greek yogurt
1 pint fresh strawberries - diced
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sift together the 2 ¼ cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest....set aside.
-With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until combined.
-Toss the strawberries with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Gently mix them into the batter.
-Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
-Allow to cool at least 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake. Enjoy!!

Strawberry Shortcake Torte

So, I made this little gem almost a week ago, and I just haven't gotten around to blogging about it.  Last night I went down to Lexington for the NCAA National Championship game.  Holy cow. It was insane.  Massive and massive and massive amounts of people.  People hanging from trees, on top of roof tops, jumping from houses, baby dolls crowd surfing (my personal favorite), the craziness goes on. Oh, and UK won the National title.  Sounds ridiculous. Like why would I want to be a part of something like that?  Good question. But it was a whole bunch of fabulousness.  I've never been so happy with a spontaneous decision to do something.  Definitely an experience I won't forget.  SOOOOO needless to stay, it's 9:30 p.m. and I haven't ventured too far away from my bed today. So. tired. So as I'm laying here, I mustered up the strength to blog.

Ingredients:
Unsalted butter, for pan
8 extra-large eggs - room temperature & separated
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons sifted baking powder
1 pint heavy cream (I used heavy whipping cream because that's what we had)
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, plus more for work towel
1 quart strawberries, washed, dried, and hulls removed

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and line a rimmed 15-by-10-by-1-inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper; set aside.
-In a large bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar together until light in color, about 1 minute; stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Add cake flour and baking powder; stir until well combined.
-In the bowl of an electric mixer (with the whisk attachment), beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into flour mixture.
-Pour cake batter in prepared pan and spread evenly.  Bake until cake springs back when touched, about 20 minutes.


-Meanwhile, set 4 strawberries aside for garnish. Thinly slice remaining strawberries. Place heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment; beat on medium speed. Slowly add remaining teaspoon vanilla and 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar. Continue beating until soft peaks form. Set half of the whipped cream aside. Gently fold sliced strawberries into remaining half; set aside.
-Just like the other rolls I have made in the past, lay a clean kitchen towel flat on a work surface with one of the short ends facing you. Generously sprinkle dish towel with confectioners' sugar. Flip cake onto towel, remove baking sheet, and peel off parchment paper. Using the dish towel, roll cake away from you; let cool. (about an hour)
-Unroll cake. Evenly spread strawberry whipped-cream mixture over surface of the cake and re-roll. Transfer cake to a serving plate and evenly spread top and sides of cake with reserved whipped cream. Place the 4 whole strawberries on top for garnish! Enjoy!!