Carrot Cake Nest Cookies

Food Network's April cookie of the month is perfect for this time of the year! The cookies jelly beans remind me of Easter Eggs and the carrot cake flavor of the cookie is a bold spring flavor this year. Carrot cake is definitely a Spring flavor and when made right can provide the right amount of sweetness without being over the top sweet.

I made these cookies for a girls night at my friends house. It was a potluck so I thought what a good excuse to bake a fun treat and show my creative side, so that's exactly what I did!

This recipe is pretty easy to make. I baked the cookies earlier in the day and then before I headed out to my friends I whipped (literally!) the cookie filling up real quick, placed the jelly beans on top, and out the door I went. The girls loved them! I had a few left over so I took them to work the next day as a treat for my co-workers. Well I am sure you're dying to know how to make these, so let's get to it!

Cookie Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch of ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup finely grated carrots (about 2)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts
• 1 1/3 cups shredded sweetened coconut 

For the Filling:

• 2oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• Jelly beans for topping

Directions:

1. Position the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, preheat to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside. Whisk the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until well combined, then beat in the carrots and walnuts. Reduce mixer to low and slowly beat in the flour mixture until just combined.
2. Roll 1 tablespoon of dough into a ball, then roll in the coconut (you may have to press the coconut onto the dough). Repeat until all the dough is gone and rolled in coconut. Arrange cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking pans. Make a deep indentation with the back side of your tablespoon or another spoon. Bake, switching trays halfway through, until the cookies are set and the coconut is golden brown (about 22 to 25 minutes). Let cookies cool completely on pan.
3. Make the filling: Beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in the confectioners sugar until fluffy. Refrigerate until ready to use. Dollop a teaspoon of the filling into the deep indentation of each cookie. Fill with 1 teaspoon and if necessary you can go back and add extra filling to fill the indentation. Top with whatever color jelly beans you prefer!

I hope you have fun making this recipe! It's definitely kid friendly as kids could help roll the dough in coconut or top the cookies with whatever jelly beans they want. Choose different color jelly beans depending on what time of year you make them too coordinate with the season or holiday!

Have you made this? I would love to hear how it turned out! Share with me below!

Stay tuned for May's cookie of the month! We're making Macarons!

Chocolate-Raspberry Cookie Pops

When I saw the cookie of the month for February I felt a mix of emotions: nervous, excited, delighted, and scared. These cookies looked really impressive and my first thought was “there is no way I can make these!” These were made by a professional baker and I just bake for fun!

BUT I made the decision to follow the magazine and make a cookie a month for the year of 2019. Also, what kind of person would I be to back down from a challenge because it looks hard? So, I committed!

After I decided to push forward I needed to decide how I was going to tackle making royal icing and my pipe work, both of which I have never used or attempted before. First I needed to find meringue powder. It’s one of those baking ingredients you can’t find in a normal grocery store. I found the meringue powder in the baking aisle at Michael’s, but I am sure you could find it at Joann’s as well. Another item i had difficulty finding was cherry extract. So I substituted raspberry extract instead….basically any extract (strawberry, raspberry, cherry) that would go well with chocolate.

Another snap-fu I came across was the recipe said I needed to use a 3in circle cutter to make the cookies. Well, I don’t have a 3in circle cookie cutter, but I have a pint glass, a wine glass, and a highball glass. So I measured which one was closest to 3in and the stemmed wine glass was the winner! *Disclaimer: I was SUPER careful and I would NOT suggest using this method on a regular basis or if you’re cooking with your kids or even yourself! If the glass broke while cutting out the cookies you’d have to throw away all of your dough and you could hurt yourself. So don’t be dumb like me! Buy the cookie cutter from Michael’s when you buy your meringue powder!

No matter how the cookies turned out I made the decision to have fun with it! I definitely learned a thing or to as well, including how easy it is to make royal icing and how fast you need to work with the royal icing so it doesn’t dry before you’re finished spreading it on the cookie.

I made these cookies for my office for Valentine’s Day. Everybody has been working hard and long hours so I wanted to bring a little holiday cheer! Even though Valentine’s Day is over you could make these for your significant others birthday, a wedding shower, or for any person/event you want to show some love!

Okay, enough chatting. Let’s get baking!

You Will Need:

For the Cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flower
• ¾ cups confectioners’ sugar
• ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s)
• ¼ granulated sugar
• 1.2 teaspoon salt
• 2.5 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Icing

• 2.5 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 5 teaspoons meringue powder
• ¼ cup water, plus more as needed
• ½ teaspoon cherry (or any flavor your choose) extract

Other Tools

• 3in round cookie cutter
• Red food coloring
• 8in lollipop sticks

Let’s Get Cooking!

1. Make the cookies! Pulse the flour, confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined. Add the cubed butter and vanilla extract until the mixture looks crumbly. I had to pulse the mixture several times, stop it and scrap down the sides, a few times to make sure the mixture combined well. When you're done the mixture should look moist and a dark brown color. Keep pulsing until the mixture holds together when pinched.
2. Transfer the dough into a large bowl and press into a ball. Knead the dough and roll it in the bowl until the mixture forms a ball and all of the stray crumbs stick to the ball of dough. Turn the cookie down out onto a large sheet of parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment paper on top on the dough. Using a dough roller, roll the dough until it’s ⅜in thick. Refrigerate the dough (on the parchment paper) in the fridge until firm, about 1 hour.
3. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut out the cookies using a 3in round cookie cutter (or in my case a wine glass ha!). Do not thaw the cookie dough before you cut out the cookies, the dough should be cold.  Arrange them 2in apart on unlined/ungreased cookie sheets. Insert an 8in lollipop stick about ¾ of the way into the cookie. (Bakers Note: I lightly pressed them into the back of the cookie and then used some excess dough to cover up the stick a little bit and then flipped them over to cook so the stick was on the baking sheet). Gather the scraps and reform into a ball and place them in between 2 pieces of parchment paper and refrigerate until ready for the next batch.
4. Bake the cookies for 25-30 minutes, switching halfway through, until the cookies are set. Let cool on the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling. If you have more dough, remove the dough from the fridge and re roll to 3/8in thick repeating steps 2-4 until all the batter is used.
5. While the cookies are cooling make the icing. Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and meringue
   
   powder in a large bowl. Beat in the ¼ cup water and cherry (or raspberry) extract with a mixer on medium speed until a soft glossy peaks forms, about 3 minutes. Add up to 1 more tablespoon of water as needed so the icing is pipable but not runny. Tint the icing with red food coloring.
6. Decorate the cookies: Transfer about ½ cup icing to a resealable plastic bag and snip the corner. Pipe the icing around the edges of each cookie to form a border around the cookie. Set aside the icing for decorating later. Let set for 10 minutes.
7. Thin the rest of the icing in the bowl until the consistency of runny yogurt, adding 1 teaspoon of water at a time. Transfer this icing into another resealable plastic bag and snip the corner. Use this frosting to fill in the cookies within the circle you just drew on the cookie. Pipe a good amount of frosting into the middle of the cookie and use the back of a spoon, or an offset spatula, carefully spreading the frosting to fill in the cookies. Only do 1 cookie at a time because this icing (royal icing) sets pretty quickly. Let he cookie set about an hour. Pipe the reserved thicker icing that you used to draw the border on the cookie, to detail the cookies drawing on top of the cookies to make a floral design.

Then go celebrate because you did it!!! Phew! You survived! You’re on your way to being the next Food Network Star! I remember feeling exhausted after making these cookies, but also content with trying something new and not having it look like something off of the TV show Nailed It!

If you have any questions while making these comment or let me know!

Game Day Cookies

Welcome 2019 bring your new year of baking!

I for one am excited about the new Food Network Magazine monthly baking this year! Last year it was ALL about the Muffins (Check out A Muffin a Month 2018 here) and this year it is ALL about the COOKIES!

Cookies are one of those sweet treats that just warm out heart...and your stomach :-) Eating a cookie fresh out of the oven and with the crispy outside and the ooey gooey middle.....and now I am drooling. I need a cookie! Good thing these cookies are super easy to make and hit every flavor note.

I made these cookies for a Super Bowl 2019 party because the name was too perfect to pass up and the sweet salty combination of these cookies is the perfect game day treat! I mean pretzels, kettle chips, chocolate chips, candied bacon, M&Ms?! All the best ingredients in one cookie.

Even though this is the January recipe and most likely created for Super Bowl I will not wait a full year again to bake them. They can pair well for any game day whether it be baseball, hockey, basketball, soccer, golf or even for your kids sporting event! They will be a touchdown (see what I did there?) with anyone who eats them.

Well, let's get baking!

Here are the ingredients you will need:

• 5 Slices bacon, chopped 
• 1/2 cup plus 2 teaspoons packed dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flower
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda*
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup broken mini pretzels
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup mini candy-coated chocolates (M&Ms)
• 2 cups kettle-cooked potato chips, broken

*I only use baking soda since I didn't have baking powder and the cookies were just fine!

Get Your Bake On:

1. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat over to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set to the side. Cook chopped bacon (Full fat bacon works best!) in a medium skillet on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until browned and crisp, usually about 10 minutes. Pour the pan drippings into a small bowl and set to the side, keep the bacon pieces in the pan.
2. Add 2 teaspoons brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of water to the skillet with the bacon and cook, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the bacon is crisp, about 1 minute. Pull pan off the burner and let cool.
3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the slightly softened room temperature butter, 2 tablespoons of the reserved bacon drippings, the remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar and the granulated sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in 1 whole egg, 1 egg yolk, and vanilla until well combined. Reduce the mixer to low and beat in the flour mixture until just combined. 
4. Stir in the pretzels, chocolate chips, M&Ms, and bacon until just combined. Stir in the chips with a spatula. I found it was best to crush up the pretzels and chips by hand or you could pour them into a plastic Ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin. You don't want to crush the pretzels and chips too small because you want the cookie to have texture.
5. Roll the dough into large balls (about 3 tablespoons each). Arrange 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake, switching halfway through, until the cookies are golden and set around the edges, but soft in the middle, about 13-15 minutes. Let cool on pans for 5 minutes and then transfer to racks to cool completely. (3 tablespoon made really big cookies, but they kind of have to be because of all the delicious chunks in the cookie. Also, don't expect to have perfectly round balls...again the ingredients make them a little lopsided, but they do cook perfectly!) 

Enjoy January's cookie recipe and keep your eye out for the other 11 months of cookies coming this year!

Apple-Pumpkin Muffin

I LOVE baking in the Fall. I love all the apple, pumpkin, cinnamon, vanilla flavors and aromas. The flavors are so comforting and they make me so happy.

Most weekends you can find me in the Kitchen baking up a storm. I enjoy trying new recipes and seeing what flavors come together. So when we were asked to a potluck at our neighbors house I thought "What should I make?" Well, it was perfect that this months muffin of the month from the Food Network Magazine was Apple-Pumpkin Muffins. Two of my favorite flavors combined and I had all of the ingredients already in my pantry. I had a Crispin Apple left over from the bushel of apples we picked from the apple orchard a few weeks ago.

These muffins pair perfectly with a cup of coffee or warm tea, with a scoop of ice cream, or by themselves! Warm them for a few seconds in the microwave and you will be in heaven!

Now, we've chatted long enough....let's make these delicious muffins!

Ingredients:

- 1 Granny Smith Apple (I used a Crispin Apple)
- 1/2 cup sugar plus 1 teaspoon
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon plus a pinch
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 cup plus 1.5 to 2.5 teaspoons whole milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar


Let's Bake!

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners or spray the pan with non-stick spray.
2. Peel apple and core the apple using an apple corer. Cut each wedge in half and then dice into small pieces. Combine the apple pieces, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and a pinch of cinnamon and salt in a medium non-stick pan. Cook over medium heat until apples are browned and softened, approximately 5-6 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl. Then whisk in 6 tablespoons melted butter, 1 cup of milk, the pumpkin, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and eggs in a medium bowl until well combined.
4. Divide batter among the muffin tins, filling them 3/4 full. Spoon the cooked apples into the center of each muffin pushing them down into the batter a little so they stick.
5. Cook for 22-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow them to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.
6. Once muffins have cooled make the glaze. Stir the confectioner's sugar with 1 1/2 teaspoons milk and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. If needed, gradually add up to one more teaspoon of milk. You don't want the glaze to be too runny, but you should be able to drizzle the glaze over the muffins. Let set for 10 minutes. TIP: Put a sheet of wax paper under your muffins when you drizzle for an easy clean up!

Then, ENJOY!!

Irish Cheddar, Bacon, and Potato Muffins

When you think of cheddar cheese, bacon, and potatoes...what is the first thing you think of?

Maybe a loaded baked potato?? The luck of the Irish?? A hearty breakfast??

I find it pretty smart that the Food Network made this muffin the "muffin of the month" for March. It screams Irish and is a nice hearty, savory bake. It will do the trick to soak up all that green beer you may (or may not) consume. :-)

The best way to describe this muffin is to think of a loaded baked potato, but in a muffin form. It's stuffed with freshly grated Irish cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, and shredded potato, plus chives to give it a pop of color and alittle something extra.

If you're looking for a savory bake this is it! It is a very hearty muffin, but the muffin itself is still pretty fluffy, which I love. I baked these muffins for a bake off at my boyfriends work and let's just say we won that week! Now, grab those ingredients and let's get baking!!



For this recipe you will need:

- 1 large Yukon gold potato (about 8oz)
- 1/4 teaspoon plus 2 pinches of salt
- 3 slices bacon, chopped and crispy
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
-1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup diced Irish cheddar cheese (about 4oz)
- 1/4/ cup chopped fresh chives
- Freshly ground pepper

Time to Bake:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners and spray with non-stick spray.

2. Prick the potato all over with a fork, wrap in a damp paper towel, and microwave until just cooked through, 4-5 minutes, turning the potato after 2 minutes.* When cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and grate the potato on the large holes of the box grater. Season with 2 pinches each of salt and pepper.

3. Cook bacon in medium skillet until browned and crispy, flip halfway through; about 8-10 minutes. Remove bacon and place on a paper-towel lined plate. Reserve 1 tablespoon bacon drippings.

4. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl; make a well in the center (make a hole in the dough so you can see the bottom of the bowl in the center).

5. Whisk the buttermilk, melted butter, egg, and 1 tablespoon bacon drippings in a bowl. Pour this mixture into the well of the flour mixture, stir until combined.

6. Fold in the grated potato, bacon, cheese, and chives.
7. Divide batter among muffins tins, filling them all the way to the top!

8. Bake muffins until tops are slightly golden brown, 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let muffins cool 5 minutes in pan before transferring to a cooling rack.

9. Top with more cheese or butter and enjoy!!

*You could also peel the potato before microwaving it. I did not do that, but I am sure it will work the way. If you do try this, let me know how it works out!

Blueberry-Nectarine Muffins

Can anyone else believe that we are already more than halfway through August?! I can't!

While we may be sad summer break is coming to an end...Farmers Markets are still in full swing! All of their fresh produce is juicy and does not disappoint. I think the best part of the farmers market is scouting for the best fruit to use in my baked goods. The fruit can't be too mushy nor can it be too firm, it has to have the right amount of give.

I found the perfect blueberries and nectarines to use in this months Food Network Muffin of the month. I adapted their recipe to make it a little healthier. I will share how I made the muffins with the original recipe next to it in parenthesis. Now, wash that fruit and lets get baking!

Ingredients Needed:

- 2 cups all-purpose flower
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup honey (2/3 cup granulated sugar)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (1/2 cup vegetable oil)
- 1/2 cup plain Chobani greek yogurt (1/2 cup sour cream)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 small nectarine, pitted and diced (2 small nectarines)
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- Coarse sugar, for topping

Get Your Bake On:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and spray with non-stick spray.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk in the honey, applesauce, yogurt, eggs, and almond extract. Stir all ingredients together until just combined. Stir in blueberries and nectarine.
3. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Fill them all the way to the top. Sprinkle a few almonds and a little sugar on top.
4. Bake muffins until golden brown and tops spring back when gently pressed, about 20 minutes. Let muffins cool in pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Top with butter or a fresh jam and enjoy!

Bakers Notes: Be careful with almond extract as it can be very potent. I would even do 1/8 teaspoon of almond extract. Also, the recipe says to fill the muffin cups 3/4 the way full, but I like a nice round top on my muffins so I filled the cups all the way to the top. I have a gas oven and my muffins were done in 15 minutes.