Red Velvet Cake

This weekend I had a sweet tooth, so I made a double layer red velvet cake. 

MInt Brownies

My dad sent me this recipe, it is BYU Mint Brownies. Apparently they sell these in the BYU bakery and at football games (maybe other places on campus, but I'm not sure). I was kind of iffy about these at first, I mean I love brownies, but I'm very picky about mint. To my delight the minty-ness was not too intense and the brownies were super moist and light! 

Mint Brownies

Ingredients

1 c. margarine

1/2 c. cocoa

2 Tbsp. honey

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 3/4 c. flour

1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

12 oz. chocolate icing (Use your own icing recipe or you can buy some pre-made chocolate frosting.)

Mint Icing

5 Tbsp. margarine

dash of salt

3 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

2 1/3 c. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. mint extract

1-2 drops green food coloring

Brownie Directions

1. Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. 

2. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.  

3. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.

Mint Icing Directions

1. Soften margarine. 

2. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. 

3. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. 

4. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.

Combine

Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.

Lion House Rolls

If you've ever been to the Salt Lake City, Utah area then you've probably heard of the Lion House. If you haven't, well, there are no words to describe the rolls they serve there... maybe heaven? Anyways, I found the recipe and these are seriously the best rolls I have ever had. Hot, fresh out of the oven goodness, they were gone VERY quickly. 

Lion House Rolls

Ingredients

2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)

2 tablespoons dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1 egg

2/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter or shortening

4-4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour

Directions

1) Combine water and milk powder, mix until dissolved.

2) Add yeast

3) Then add the sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups of the flour.

4) Mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, mix at medium speed for 2 minutes.

5) Add 2 more cups of the flour; mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then mix at medium speed for 2 more minutes. (Dough will be getting stiff and remaining flour may need to be mixed in by hand).

6) Add about ½ cup flour and mix again, by hand or mixer.

7) Dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff. (It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour, but keep adding flour until you reach the right consistency)

8) Scrape dough off sides of bowl and pour about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil all around the sides of the bowl so it is covered with a little bit of oil. This will help prevent the dough from drying out.

9) Cover with plastic wrap and then place a towel over the bowl.  Allow to rise in warm place until the dough doubles in size.

10) After dough has risen, sprinkle cutting board or counter with flour and place dough on floured surface. Roll out and cut rolls into desired shape and size.

11) Place on greased (or parchment lined) baking pans.

12) Let rise in warm place until rolls are double in size (about 1 to 1 ½ hours).

13) Bake at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned.

14) Brush with melted butter while hot.

Dutch Apple Pie

This pie turned out a lot  better than I expected, especially since it was my first time ever making a dutch apple pie. So here's the recipe, enjoy!

Dutch Apple Pie

Ingredients:

1 - 9 inch pie crust (I made mine from scratch, but you can buy one from the store)

8 medium apples (I used Granny Smith)

4 tbsp lemon juice

Streusel Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup and 2 tbsp flour

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tpsn salt

1/2 cup butter 

1/2 cup walnuts (I left these out, because I hate nuts, and it still tasted fabulous)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

2. Core, peel, and slice apples. Place applies and lemon juice in a bowl and mix well. (set aside)

3. Mix brown sugar, white sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.

4. Cut in butter with pastry blender (and chopped nuts if you are using them). *careful on this step, if you cut in too much then it just starts to blend. You want it to turn into tiny fluffy balls / crumbs for best results.

5. Add half of the streusel mixture to the apples and mix well.

6. Place apple mixture into the crust, and then sprinkle the rest of the streusel crumbs on top.

7. Put foil around the crust so it doesn't burn. Bake at 375 for 40 mins, remove foil and bake an additional 20 mins

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I made these red velvet cupcakes for a women's conference at our church. My mom was in charge of hosting a table, and so she picked out the colors and decor for the lunch and asked me to make a dessert. I love the colors she chose, they are so spring-y! I used Justin's grandmother's recipe to make the cupcakes and the cream cheese frosting from scratch! I do not think I can ever have boxed cake again after having these. After frosting the cupcakes I decided they needed some color as well, so I used fondant to create the flowers on top of the cupcakes. 

Red Velvet Cake

(or cupcakes)

Ingredients for cake:

2 1/2 cups sifted flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cocoa

1 cup butter milk

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 tsp vinegar

2 eggs

1 oz red color

Ingredients for Frosting:

1 stick butter

8oz creme cheese

1 pound (or 3 cups) conf. sugar

1 cup pecans

1/2 tsp vanilla

Cake:

*Preheat oven to 325 degrees

1. Combine all dry ingredients and whisk together.

2. Combine all wet ingredients and mix together.

3. Add the WET ingredients to the DRY ingredients. (I'm used to adding the dry ingredients to the wet ones, so I had to make sure it did it right!)

4. Mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes and then pour into greased pans. Lightly drop the pan a few times on the counter to get out all the air bubbles from the batter. 

5. Bake for 25 mins, or until you are able to pass the toothpick test.

Frosting:

1. Mix together butter, cream cheese, and sugar.

2. Add vanilla and mix well.

3. Enjoy heaven on a spoon.

*Justin's sister told me that it was a good idea to double the frosting recipe, and boy was she right! This is hands down the best cream cheese frosting I have ever had.

Cake Bites

For Valentines Day I made cake bites for my husband. My friend Bethany sent me a recipe from a pretty neat website, however I tweaked it a little, cuz I'm picky about my sweets. I think they turned out really good, however I found out that I need to work on my drizzle skills... still yummy though!

Cake Bites

Ingredients: 

• 1 box of cake mix (I used chocolate, baked in 2 9 inch pans)

• 1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)

• 12 oz of milk chocolate (and/or white chocolate for variety)

• wax paper

Directions:

1. After you bake the cake, let it cool completely, crumble into large bowl.

2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It's easier to use your hands, messy though)

3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet.
4. Put in the freezer for 3 hours (overnight for best results).

5. Double boil to melt the chocolate.

6. It's easiest to spoon the chocolate onto the frozen cake balls so they don't start to fall apart in the melted chocolate. Spread the chocolate evenly over all of the balls and place in the fridge for half an hour.

7. You can decorate the cake bites by melting white chocolate chips (also using the double boil method) and then carefully spoon into a zip lock bag and snip a small corner. Drizzle/design the bites freely. 

8. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Arguably THE Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever

This recipe was given to me by my mother, I remember her making these cookies throughout my childhood. And I may be somewhat biased, but I've been told on quite a few occasions that these are the best cookies ever made. Some would even go as far as to pay me for the recipe! But I have denied the requests, until today, when I have finally decided to share this recipe with the internet world. Enjoy! 

THE Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Ingredients: 

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 egg

2 cups chocolate chips (or more if you're a chocoholic like Giniel)

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees (Fahrenheit). 

In a small bowl sift together flour, baking soda, and salt

In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add vanilla and egg and beat well.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar/vanilla/egg mixture 

Add chocolate chips. Bake 10-12 minutes or until slightly brown. 

**The key to making the simple chocolate chip cookie into THE best chocolate chip cookie ever, is the cream mixture. The butter should NOT be melted, but should be around room temperature, and extremely soft. (if the butter is frozen, put in the microwave on defrost setting). 

Chocolate Cheesecake

Found this recipe online and decided to try it for my mom's birthday. Choco-coma. Fluffy, creamy, amazingness. I highly recommend it.

Chocolate Cheesecake:

Crust:

1 1/2 cups (150 grams) chocolate wafer crumbs

1/3 cup (75 grams) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

12 ounces (340 grams) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

24 ounces (680 grams) (3 - 8 ounces packages) full fat cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (240 ml) full fat or light sour cream, room temperature

Ganache:

4 ounces (115 grams) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon unsalted butter, room temperature

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Chocolate Cheesecake: Butter or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, a 10 inch (25 cm) spring form pan. Place the spring form pan on a larger baking pan to catch any leakage while the cheesecake is baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) with rack in center of oven.

Crust: In a medium sized bowl combine the chocolate wafer crumbs and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom of the spring form pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For Filling: Melt the chopped chocolate in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer) beat the cream cheese, on medium low speed, until smooth. Gradually beat in the sugar. Add the melted chocolate and beat until fully incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla extract and sour cream and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake pan on a larger baking pan and place in the oven.

Bake for about 50 - 55 minutes or until firm yet the center of the cheesecake will still look a little wet and wobbly. Remove from oven and carefully run a knife or spatula around the inside edge of pan to loosen the cheesecake (helps prevent the surface from cracking as it cools). Let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours before covering with the ganache.

Ganache: Place the chopped chocolate in a stainless steel bowl. Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for a few minutes. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly and then pour over cheesecake. With an offset spatula or back of a spoon, evenly spread the ganache over the top of the cheesecake. Cover and return to the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. This cheesecake tastes best after being refrigerated for at least a day.

Serves at 12 - 16 people.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

I'd have to say that this is probably one of my top 3 favorite kind of cookie. The Peanut Butter Blossom. Justin and I are both Peanut Butter lovers so to us, these are awesome! It's hard to have just one...enjoy!

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

Additional granulated sugar (about 2 tablespoons)

About 7 dozen Hershey®’s Kisses® milk chocolate

1.Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and eggs. (Works best if using mixer, use medium speed.) Stir in flour, baking soda and baking powder.

2.Roll dough into 1-inch balls; roll balls in additional granulated sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

3.Bake about 8 minutes. Remove just before the edges start to turn light brown. Immediately press 1 chocolate candy in center of each cookie. Stick bake in the oven for additional 2 minutes then remove from oven and let cool.