White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Sorry Mrs. Fields, your recipe has been replaced (or at least the store bought frozen cookie dough I've been known to purchase).

These are delicious. Oh my!

My extremely hard working husband was out of town for a while and would often inform me of "the best" white chocolate macadamia nut cookies he was eating (and how many in a day)! Well, if those aren't fighting words I don't know what are. So, I started my research on my quest to find the best white chocolate macadamia nut cookie to ensure they would be on the counter waiting for him when he got home and that he would find a better cookie.

I like to think I accomplished my task; these were amazing. They were rich, slightly crunchy, bursting with macadamia nuts and white chocolate chunks. I like my cookies undercooked so I took them out at 13 minutes and had a husband who happily agreed.


White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Adapted from: Field Guide to Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted & cooled
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped white chocolate
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Directions

Preheat your oven to 325°F and place the oven rack in the middle. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined.

Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined. Mix in the white chocolate chunks and macadamia nuts until incorporated.

Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into even balls and lay them on the baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, about 16 minutes (I took mine out at 11-13). Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Raspberry Buttermilk Crumb Cake with Lemon Crumbles

More crumb cake! I'm on a crumb cake kick... I'm addicted! Not to mention the lemon and raspberry combination is delicious and screams Spring, perfect for this season.

The soft but slightly chewy cake on the bottom is great but really just a base for the real attraction - a dense layer of brown sugar crumbs. Oh, the sheer sugary heaven of it all!

The only thing I would do different next time is add more raspberries and make more crumb topping as I like lots of flavor.

There's a large possibility that I'm going to add crumb topping to anything I bake in the near feature...


Raspberry Buttermilk Crumb Cake with Lemon Crumbles
Adapted from: vanilla sugar

Ingredients

Cake
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp sea salt
½ cup unsalted butter, very soft/room temp
1 & ¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest
1 large egg & 1 egg yolk
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries

Lemon Crumb Topping
1 cup flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ tsp sea salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest
½ cup unsalted butter, melted & cooled

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350°F and place the rack in the middle. Butter and flour a 9" round springform pan.

Make the lemon crumb topping by melting the butter and letting it cool. In a bowl mix the flour, brown sugar, salt, lemon zest and add the cooled butter to it and stir well. Set aside till ready.

In small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar until pale yellow and fluffy; add the zest, eggs, and beat well for an additional 2-3 minutes. In batches, add the flour, alternating with the buttermilk until all is combined.

Pour the batter into the baking pan and use a spatula to smooth. Don't fill pan with batter, only fill about 1/4 full. Top batter with the raspberries, Don’t push the raspberries down into the batter; the berries will sink in during baking. Top the cake with the lemon crumb mix; use large clumps and disperse evenly.

Bake for approximately 30 - 35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean and the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10-15 minutes, before releasing the sides of the springform and sliding off bottom to transfer to a cooling rack. Let cake cool before serving.

Banana-Espresso Crumb Cake

I've found my new go-to banana bread recipe and I couldn't be more pleased!

{Banana-Espresso Crumb Cake}... ohmygoodness!

I am so happy with how this turned out and will definitely bake this again.The moist cake, topped with crunchy and thick crumbs with a hint of salt makes for a perfect crumb cake.

Banana bread is one of those things like chocolate chip cookies and pot roast; everyone thinks their recipe is the best. So yes, some of you may try other recipes but so you know the one thing you can do, in any banana recipe, to make it better is use very ripe bananas.

I know, I know, of course you use ripe bananas.  In many ways, the entire purpose of banana bread is to prevent wasting fruit that is past its prime. But the way to get the best possible banana bread is to use really ripe bananas. I normally allow my bananas to ripen for fourteen days before I deem them ready.

Now go buy some bananas, let them sit on the counter for a couple weeks, bake this and let me know how delicious it tastes and if it lasts in your house for longer than a day!


Banana-Espresso Crumb Cake
Adapted from: vanilla sugar

Ingredients

Cake
1 and ½ cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4)
¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup half & half
1 egg
1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 and ½ packets of Starbucks Via
1 and ½ ts baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
¾ cup bittersweet chocolate chips (I used semisweet)

Crumb Topping
1 and ½ cups flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon coarse salt (I used sea salt)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 9 pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugar, egg, butter and half & half.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda and salt.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

In a medium bowl combine all dry ingredients for the crumb topping, pour melted butter over and toss with a rubber spatula until large crumbs form. Sprinkle crumbs over batter.

Pour mixture into pan, then top with crumbs.

Bake in the center of the oven for 35 - 45 minutes (I took mine out at 37 minutes). Will be done when a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean.

Let cake cool for 15-20 minutes before slicing and enjoying.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm Irish, well part of me is and it's enough for me to celebrate and bake with green!

I used a French Vanilla cake mix for the cupcakes and added green food coloring (you could also use green decorating paste which would give you a more vibrant green) for some festive flair.

I used this recipe for the cream cheese icing (so good!),

1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups icing sugar
8 drops of green food coloring

In bowl, beat cream cheese with butter; beat in vanilla. Beat in sugar in 2 additions until smooth.

I topped these wee cupcakes with some green sprinkles and a little art!

Sláinte ("Cheers!" in Irish Gaelic)! I thought I'd spare you and not write this entire post Gaelic... You're welcome ;-)

Butter Pecan Banana Cake

I found out we were having company, on rather short notice, and knew that if I wanted to whip something together it had to be fast (hence the cake mix).

All of the elements in this cake are delightful but it is the crunchy, buttery, pecan icing that makes this cake, {oh my}!

Thankfully our lovely company, some of who had thirds, polished this off for me so I wouldn't be tempted to finish any remainings the following day.

Thanks to the packaged mix, this cake takes no time to put together. The icing can be made while the cake is baking, a little time consuming, but nonetheless a fast and delicious dessert to bake, serve and enjoy!


Butter Pecan Banana Cake
Adapted from: Duncan Hines

Ingredients

Cake
1 pkg Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Butter Recipe Golden Cake Mix
4 large eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

Frosting
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter
1 tub classic vanilla frosting

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour bundt pan.

Combine cake mix, eggs, bananas, oil, sugar, milk and vanilla extract in large bowl. Beat at low speed with electric mixer until moistened. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in 1 cup chopped pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 25 minutes. Invert onto cooling rack. Cool completely.

While cake is baking, place 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans and butter in skillet. Cook on medium heat, stirring until pecans are toasted. Stir into frosting. Cool until spreading consistency. Frost cake.

 

 

Chocolate-Dipped Frozen Banana Bites

I start to panic if I don't have baking in the house. It's possible that you'll see me emptying the pantry to find anything with sugar to fix my hourly daily craving. The result? Empty marshmallow bags, chocolate chips scattered everywhere and caramel sauce stuck to the kitchen counter. I do, however, freeze a lot of what I bake. One, because it would just be wrong if my husband and I finished everything in one sitting and two, it's always nice to know that there is something delicious waiting in the freezer. These chocolate-dipped frozen banana bites are the perfect treat and are meant to be frozen! How could I not try these?

Although I thoroughly enjoyed eating these as I made them (banana, warm melted chocolate and a crunchy chocolate bar exterior, yum!) they were equally delicious as a frozen treat the following day. For coating the banana I used Coffee Crisp, Skor Bar and Oreo crumbs (separately). The chocolate bar toppings seemed the be the popular choice but be creative and see what you can come up with. Also, if you're like me and think that you should squish the sliced banana into a ball before coating it in chocolate and you're favorite topping, don't. I tired this and recommend against it :-)

Oh, and of course, the bonus? I think it's safe to say that this tasty treat is on the healthy side as the nutritional information says these are under 80 calories. Love that!

Chocolate-Dipped Frozen Banana Bites
Adapted from: Bon Appétit

Ingredients

2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 ripe bananas, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Assorted toppings for coating bananas (use your favorite nuts, candies or cookies to coat the bananas such as crushed chocolate sandwich cookies, Skor Bar, Coffee Crisp, toffee bits, chopped salted peanuts, or toasted shredded sweetened coconut)

Directions

Stir chocolate and oil in heavy small saucepan over low heat just until smooth. Let stand 15 minutes to cool.

Place each topping in separate shallow dish. Line baking sheet with foil. Arrange banana slices on foil. Using fingers, dip 1 banana slice in chocolate, coating completely. Shake off excess chocolate. Drop dipped banana in one topping. Using a spoon, sprinkle more topping over banana to coat; transfer to foil-lined sheet. Repeat with remaining bananas, chocolate, and toppings. Freeze until firm, about 3 hours, then serve and enjoy.

 

Sugar Donut Mini Muffins

Puppies. Babies. Cupcakes. It seems to be a reoccurring theme that when things are miniaturized, they become adorable.

More mini muffins, I know. Get use to it; these are my newest obsession. So cute. So edible. So guilt free :)

You’re gonna love these. They taste just like a donut, but they are baked in muffin tins!

After these bake you let them cool (for a brief moment), dunk the top of the muffin into the melted butter and then roll them around in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Once the butter soaks in, the flavor is much more pronounced. You are really going to need to try these, both because they are delicious and because they are ridiculously simple.

Sugar Donut Muffins
Adapted from: Baking Bites

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons melted butter, for dipping
1/2 cup sugar, for rolling
1 tablespoon cinnamon, for rolling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease muffin tin with cooking spray or butter.

In a large bowl beat sugar and egg together until light and fluffy. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Pour into sugar/egg mixture and stir until well combined. Add in vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix well. Pour into muffin tins, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for about 12-14 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave. Stir together sugar and cinnamon in another small bowl. When the muffins are done allow them to cool for a few minutes then dunk the tops of the muffins in the melted butter and then the cinnamon-sugar mixture!

 

There was a nosy culprit interested in the happenings ;-)