Egg-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake (or Cookies)

I recently went back to work after staying home with my daughter before she started school.  It’s time I treasure more than anything.  But she went to school so it was time for me to do something.  I was faced with the problem of many (all) parents.  What could I do that would enable me to be there for her when she didn’t have school.  She is an only child so I didn’t want to ship her off to grandparents houses for all the holidays and breaks, while I worked.  Obvious answer – work at her school.  So that’s what I’m doing.  Her school has a nursery for teachers children and that’s where I work.  I love it.

One of “my babies” has an egg allergy.  We have to be careful because so many things have eggs, so for our “Happy Birthday Jesus” party I wanted to make something he could enjoy as well.  I set out looking for an egg-free cookie cake recipe.  I didn’t really find one, but I found an egg-free cookie recipe so figured that would work.  I was a little nervous about the middle of the cookie cake not cooking well and the outside being overcooked, so I just lowered the oven temp.  I had a little dough leftover so I made some cookies and my husband raved over them  He says I should make these always!  The cookie cake came out delicious as well.  It was nice and fluffy.  Now I know what to make for a special nursery treat!

Egg Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Egg-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Recipe from Art of Dessert

Ingredients:

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Method:

For regular cookies, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  For cookie cake, preheat oven to 325.

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.  In a mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese.  Add the sugars and vanilla.  Once smooth, slowly add the dry ingredients.  Mix until a smooth dough forms.  Stir in chocolate chips.  To make a cookie cake, I used an 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom and spread the dough evenly.  Bake until golden colored and the middle no longer jiggles.  If decorating, allow to cool completely.

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

I’m really behind in submitting some posts, and this is one of them.  A while back I had some fresh organic strawberries from our nearby farmers market, Inglewood Farms.  We were having a crawfish boil so I wanted to do something with the strawberries as dessert.  Nothing beats something cold and sweet after hot and spicy boiled crawfish so I decided on strawberry shortcakes.  Only we were having a bunch of people and I didn’t feel like standing around assembling things.  Then I found this recipe.

The recipe was really easy.  I admit I cheated and used a box cake mix.  So sue me.  Anyway, the cake turned out fantastic, everyone loved it.

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Strawberry Shortcake Cake
Recipe adapted from Glorious Treats

Ingredients:

1 white cake mix, baked per directions on box

Strawberry filling:
1 pint strawberries
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
3 tbsp. water

Whipped Cream Frosting:
1.5 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Method:

Set cooked cake aside to cool.  While it is cooling, coarsely chop half the strawberries and add them and the water to a food processor.  Next pour this blended mixture through a mesh strainer over a bowl.  In a small pan, mix the sugar and cornstarch.  Slowly add the strained liquid, whisking until all combined.  Bring to a boil for one minute, then remove from heat and allow to cool completely.  Chop the rest of the strawberries and fold them into the mixture.

In another bowl, beat the cream with an electric mixer until it begins to stiffen, then add the powdered sugar and vanilla.  Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.

Spread the strawberry gelatin as the filling of the cake, then use the whipped cream as the frosting on the cake.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

Chocolate Chip Pie

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m a Pinterest junkie. If I ever won the lottery, man would my dream house be awesome! And maybe then I could afford a personal trainer from eating all these yummy desserts I see on there!

I try to make things when we are invited somewhere, or when we have friends over. That way I’m not just making myself sick on all the goodness! We recently had a crawfish boil and invited friends over, so I made this chocolate chip pie I had been eyeing. I was unsure of how it would come out because it just didn’t seem to call for much. But I didn’t need to worry, it was delicious! Even my ultra-picky daughter ate it. She popped a pecan into her mouth and as she was doing it she said “what’s this? caramel?” and she ate it before I could tell her. When she found out she ate a pecan she was amazed, her response was “but it was so good!” well yeah, kid! The pie was great eaten as is, but even better heated up with some ice cream and chocolate syrup on top!

Chocolate Chip Pie

Chocolate Chip Pie

Recipe by Bakerella, originally from Nestle

Ingredients:

1 9-inch deep dish pie shell, unbaked
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1.5 sticks butter, softened
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Method:

Preheat oven to 325.

In the bowl of the mixer, beat the eggs until foamy. Beat in the flour and sugars, then the butter.

Stir in the chocolate chip morsels and pecans and spoon into pie shell. Bake 55-60 minutes, then cool on wire rack. Serve warm, with optional ice cream.

Browned Butter Frosting

I’ve been making the same pumpkin spice cake with chocolate chips for nearly ten years and until recently always held fast to the belief that it was so good on its’ own that it didn’t need a frosting.  It really is, without frosting it goes from cake cake to more of a breakfast cake, fabulous with coffee in the morning.  But then one day I thought that it would be good with browned butter, and off I went to find a recipe for browned butter frosting.

I ended up using a recipe from Martha Stewart and it is SO easy.  I really love browned butter, it gives food a nutty taste and is so decadent.  This frosting was super simple to put together, just make sure you put it on the cake quickly, it sets really fast and will end up looking a little gloppy.  Hence the picture of one side of my cake!  😉  It was a huge hit despite that, I made it for Thanksgiving and my mother-in-law asked me to make it again for Christmas and for her upcoming birthday.  I don’t know about you, but I’d call that a success!

Browned Butter Frosting

Browned Butter Frosting
Recipe from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
4 tbsp butter
1 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp milk, depending on desired thickness

Method:

In a small saucepan, cook the butter over medium heat, stirring often.  It will start to bubble and brown, let it get a good golden brown and then remove from heat, around ten minutes.

In a bowl, combine the sugar, vanilla, butter (leave as much sediment in the saucepan as you can), and 1 tbsp milk.  Mix until smooth, you may add more milk if needed.  Use immediately.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Towards the end of summer a friend asked if I would want to participate in her fantasy football league.  My response?  “Haha, NO.”  For those that know me well, you know that I’m not sporty.  And neither is my husband, I’m forever grateful that I’m not married to someone who makes me watch sports all the time.  Yuck!  I do enjoy a good sport related party or tailgate, just don’t much want to watch the actual event.

But my friend managed to convince me that it would be FUN.  Hmm… we’ll see.  😉  I told her that I would only play if I could call it Fancy Football instead.  So for our Fancy Football draft party, I showed up wearing pearls and a sparkly shirt made just for the event, and brought “Fancy Football Cupcakes.”  Basically, football cupcakes with candy pearls on them.  Everyone got a good chuckle out of it.  I love my friends 🙂

Fancy Football Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Recipe from Savory Sweet Life

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
3.5 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract
4 tbsp heavy cream

Method:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until fluffy.  Sift three cups of the powdered sugar and the cocoa powder into the bowl, then turn on the mixer to the lowest speed until they are well blended together.  Once it’s all blended, increase the speed and add the remaining ingredients (except for the additional sugar).  Beat until fluffy.

Fancy Football Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

 

Banoffee Pie

So by now you’ve probably figured out that I’m a Pinterest addict.  I’ve been seeing recipes for Banoffee Pie on Pinterest for a while, and I repinned them but it was never one of those things I “needed” to make.  But it so happened that my friend Jen made this pie to bring to a potluck dinner with friends, she didn’t call it banoffee pie though, just banana caramel pie.  And it was amazing.

I fussed at my husband because he didn’t try any that night.  He NEVER tries desserts!  I tried explaining to him that this is a pie dreams are made of.  He was skeptical, being the dessert hater that he is.  So last weekend my brother and his girlfriend came to visit and I saw this as my big chance to make The Pie.  They loved it and James finally tried a piece, and was hooked.  He was so hooked that between last Saturday and today (following Friday), I’ve made the pie three times.  Yep.  Three.  He was excited that I made it last night to try out a store-bought caramel because he said he didn’t have to share it with anyone.  And he didn’t really…boy ate half the pie last night!

So yeah, it’s good.  If you don’t have room in your life for new addictions, I recommend you don’t try it.  But if you do try it, there’s no turning back.

Banoffee Pie

P.S.  It calls for boiling cans of sweetened condensed milk for 2-3 hours, but I had stuff to do so yeah, I boiled it for an hour and a half and it was fine.  Also, you can buy a can of this stuff (see photo) below and it does the trick in a pinch if you don’t have time to boil the cans.  Saves major time.

 

You can cheat and use this.

Banoffee Pie
Recipe from Jennifer

Ingredients:
1 frozen pie crust, baked and cooled per the instructions
2 ripe bananas, sliced into rounds
1 can caramelized sweetened condensed milk (see instructions below)
Whipped topping
Heath milk chocolate toffee bits (make sure to get the one with chocolate on it – found near chocolate chips)

Method:

• To caramelize the sweetened condensed milk, remove the labels from the cans (though you only need one for a pie, it’s easy to do several at a time – they will keep for ages in the fridge if unopened!) but do not open the can.  Place the cans in a large stockpot and fill with water, so the tops of the cans are covered by an inch or two of water.  Cover and boil for 2-3 hours (or an hour and a half like me) making sure the water is covering the tops of the cans at all time.  Do not let the water evaporate to where the cans aren’t covered.  Allow the cans to cool before handling – they will be HOT!  Once completely room temperature you can open them, but not before that because they could explode!

This is what mine looked like.

• Layer the bananas in the pie shell, then pour the caramelized condensed milk over the top, making an even layer on top of the bananas.  Cover with whipped topping, then sprinkle on the Heath bar bits and refrigerate until ready to serve!

Banoffee Pie – Before

Banoffee Pie – After

 

Peanut Butter Buttercream Icing

My name is Christen and I’m a peanut butter addict.  I come by my addiction honestly, it seems to be genetic.  My dad and brother both share my love for this sweet condiment.  As soon as I conjured up the plans to make this cake, I was thinking about how perfect it would be as a Father’s Day dessert.

I actually tried a new cake recipe to go with the icing, but it was nothing to write home about.  I’m yet to find  a homemade cake recipe that I like, I find the box mixes are just more moist.  If you have a good homemade one then let me know, I’ll try it out.  But in the meantime, I’ll just keep making this fabulous icing and slapping it on my box mix cakes 🙂

Special Note:  I doubled the recipe for the icing/frosting.  Below is the doubled recipe.

Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Buttercream Icing

Peanut Butter Buttercream Icing
Recipe from Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients:
2.5 cups powdered sugar
2 cups creamy peanut butter (I used Planters brand)
2 sticks butter, softened/room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2/3 cup heavy cream

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl or the bowl of a mixer.  Mix on medium-low speed until well-mixed and fluffy.  Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Spread on cake as desired.

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Yesterday my daughter and I went with some friends to pick blueberries.  E was very excited about it, but being a 3-year-old I didn’t have great expectations of the day going well.  She’s just not one with nature.  She takes after her mama!  Surprisingly, she totally embraced blueberry picking and didn’t want to leave, she kept saying “I’m not done!” when I would try to guide her to the car.  All in all, we picked one gallon of fresh, sweet blueberries.

My Blueberry-Picking Cowgirl!

On the ride home, she was super excited about doing something with our blueberries.  We decided things like cake, muffins, scones and yogurt covered blueberries would be made, and we would also freeze some.  By the way, if you plan to freeze fresh blueberries, don’t wash them first.  Anyway, after looking at Pinterest’s “blueberry” search results, I decided on this Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake.  It was easy to make and the flavor was superb!  I just love when you combine blueberry and lemon, what a great flavor combo!  The only thing I can say bad about it is that mine was a bit crumbly, I’m going to cut back the flour a little next time and see what happens.  I’ll definitely make it again though, the cake didn’t even make it to breakfast, it was half gone before dinnertime!

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake
Recipe from Alexandra’s Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, softened
zest from one large lemon
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 additional tbsp sugar (for sprinkling on top)
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour (see my comments above, I’d go with maybe 1 and 3/4)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups fresh blueberries, washed and patted dry
1/2 cup buttermilk

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.

Using a mixer, cream together the butter, lemon zest and sugar.  Once fluffy and mixed, add in the egg and vanilla, beat just till mixed.

Toss the blueberries with 1/4 cup flour.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the rest of the flour, salt and baking powder.

Slowly add the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the butter mixture, alternating each one just a little at a time.  Fold in the flour-coated blueberries.

Spread batter into a greased 8×8 pan and sprinkle that reserved tablespoon of sugar over the top.  I didn’t use a whole tablespoon, but that’s your choice.  Bake 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool 15 minutes before serving.

What one gallon of blueberries looks like!

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

Did you know yesterday was National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day?  Apparently everything gets its’ day.  So you know, I had to SACRIFICE and make a batch, since it was that day and all.  😉  Of course I had two three-year-olds at my house, so they happily went along with the plan.

I found this recipe on Pinterest, it was really simple and delicious.  The cookies were so soft and fluffy, I’m embarrassed to say they are almost all gone.  Of course I only ate a few, I DID have two three-year-olds here.  And some hungry men in the family.  I used French Vanilla instant pudding, but I think it would be fun to play around with different flavors, see what you can come up with!

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
Recipe from Two Peas & Their Pod

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1 3.4 oz. package instant pudding mix, I used French Vanilla
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the butter and sugars.  Add in the eggs, vanilla and pudding mix.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.  Add the dry ingredients to those in the mixer and mix until well-incorporated.  Add in the chocolate chips, mix well and drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a cookie pan covered with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

Bake 10-12 minutes, and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

Nutella Pop-Tarts

Despite the large number of desserts I’ve been posting lately, I’m not actually a big sweets eater.  Often when I make something sweet, I bring some to friends and neighbors, otherwise it’ll go bad at my house.  But that’s not always the case.

I took my daughter and her little BFF to a cupcake bakery in our town.  While I’m not one to get a big cupcake, I am one to get the chocolate hazelnut pop-tarts they offer!  They are amazing!  I think it is all in their crust, it’s buttery and flaky, oh so good!  I was telling my dad how wonderful they are and he found me a recipe for Nutella pop-tarts.  It’s basically a cheater recipe because it uses store-bought pie crust dough, so it isn’t quite as good as the local bakery.  But it’s still darn good!  These are so quick and easy, perfect for a last minute dessert or breakfast.  I’m going to try soon making my own dough, but for now these satisfy the craving nicely.

Nutella Pop-Tarts
Recipe from The Jelly Shot Test Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 package refrigerated rolled pie crust (in a box by the biscuits)
1 cup Nutella hazelnut spread
powdered sugar
milk
vanilla
sprinkles

Method:

• Preheat oven to 425.
• Unroll a pie crust and cut the rounded edges off, then cut into rectangles (a pizza cutter works well here).
• Place a dollop of Nutella on half of the rectangles, then cover with the other rectangles.  Seal edges with your fingers, then crimp the edges with the tines of a fork.
• Repeat process with the other pie crust.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, until turning golden.
• Allow to cool completely, then make a glaze with powdered sugar, very little milk and a splash of vanilla.  Top with sprinkles.