Mississippi Mud Pie Mini Cupcakes

I recently made a killer Mississippi Mud Pie from one of my new favorite cookbooks from the Baked Bakery in Brooklyn, NY. I had leftover chocolate pudding and heavy whipping cream, so I decided to experiment with a mini cupcake version. I made chocolate-espresso mini cupcakes, then filled them (after they were baked) with chocolate pudding, and topped with a whipped cream frosting. They were awesome, just like the pie :) If you don't want to bother with making your own chocolate pudding, you could cheat and use store-bought, but this chocolate pudding is so awesome (and easy) that I recommend making it from scratch.

Baby Bran Muffins

Saturday breakfast! I whipped up a quick batch of lower-fat bran muffins for breakfast this morning to accompany my veggie egg fritatta leftovers. I subsituted the oil in this recipe with applesauce, used half whole wheat pastry flour and half all purpose, and mixed up a buttermilk substiute using greek yogurt, milk, and lemon juice. I reduced the sugar from standard amounts, but honestly I think they could have used just a little more sweetness. I added cherries (frozen from last summer's trip to northern Michigan!) which helped spruce up the flavor. They were tasty!! I'll definitely make again! The mini size will be perfect for little snacks throughout the week.

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Wrigley gets cookies too! This is my 6-year old dog Wrigley, seconds before devouring his early christmas present! You can see the intensity of his concentration in his eyes :) I know a lot of my blog-viewers have dogs, so I thought I'd include this in my cookie list this year. Merry Christmas everyone!

Burnt-Sugar Vanilla Butter Cookies

These creme brulee inspired sugar cookies came from Fine Cooking Magazine's (December 2010) "Dessert in a Cookie." The article featured cookies inspired by classic desserts like lemon meringue pie, chocolate mousse, and creme brulee. Usually I refrain from posting recipes that require fancy cookware (like blowtorches in this case!) but I just couldn't resist trying this one. So if you have the tools, give it a try! It makes for a very cool, unique presentation. The caramelized, burnt sugar on top of the cookie is nice and crunchy. They are best served right after being torched, but I stored some in ziplock bags and they seemed to hold their crunch for at least a few days.

I had a few problems with the recipe, so I made some impromptu modifications. The recipe below is how it was printed in Fine Cooking, but I ended up rolling out my sugar cookie dough and cutting the cookies out with circle cutters. The log-method might work better if you actually freeze the dough for an hour or two to make it easier to cut off round slices without having the dough morph and smush under your knife. I also decided to cut my cookies with a smaller 2-inch cutter, which made for MANY more cookies, so you might want to half the recipe.

Chocolate-Hazelnut-Espresso Balls

This recipe is a twist on the nutty, crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth cookies people refer to as sandies, mexican wedding cookies, and snowballs. This type of cookie always incorporates some kind of ground nut in a buttery batter, which is the secret to making them literally crumble and melt in your mouth. This version uses ground hazelnuts, and instead of dusting them with powdered sugar like mexican wedding cookies, these are rolled in ground hazelnuts which I find very pretty. Top with chocolate-covered hazelnuts, or if you want less of an espresso "punch", leave un-topped.

Almond Bonbon Cookies

These cookies are a little more work to make, but they are totally worth it: both in taste and in looks! They are essentially balls of shortbread filled with a little ball of almond paste, which (for those who don't know about the magic qualities of almond paste) absolutely transforms this ball into an amazingly almondy ball of deliciousness. Sometimes the cookies slouch a little in the oven and turn out more like little lumps than balls (try double checking the oven temp), but they are still equally as delicious. Dipping in chocolate and sprinkling with almonds makes them look extra fancy.

Chewy Coconut-Walnut-Oat "Anzac" Cookies

These oatmeal-based cookies were originally created during World War 2 to raise money for war veterans. The Anzac name came from the acronym for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. I first made these cookies several years ago out of a magazine, and I was hooked. They are sweet, thin, chewy, crispy, and the nuts add some crunch. I prefer to make these cookies with unsweetened flaked coconut, but it is often hard to find - and the regular sweetened flaked coconut is absolutely delicious too. If you can't find golden syrup (or just want to use something you might already have), other syrups like maple will work as a substitute.

Very Ginger Cookies

 

These chewy ginger cookies have a blast of ginger flavor from ground, crystallized, and fresh ginger-infused sugar. I was worried that the ginger flavor might be a little too intense, so I chopped the candied ginger into very small pieces to scatter the flavor throughout the cookie.  I think the balance of ginger and other spices is perfect! I made ginger sugar (see recipe) to roll the cookies in. I was intrigued by the idea of letting fresh, chopped ginger infuse into granulated sugar. I think I left the ginger in my sugar a little too long and the sugar got really wet... however, once I removed the fresh ginger, the sugar started to dry out. I left it out to dry overnight, then ran it through a food processor to remove clumps - and in the end it was good. But regular granulated sugar works just as well!

Chocolate-Pistachio Trees

I first made these cute chocolate tree cookies a couple years ago. It was an especially cold week in December in Colorado and the furnace in my house had broken overnight. As I waited for the repair guy to show up, layered head to toe in wool items, I decided to start baking (the electricity was fine, so I could warm up next to my oven!) By the time the repair guy came, I think I had several dozens of cookies finished in my kitchen and I remember offering him one of these. He liked them, so I hope you do too!

Lemon-Thyme Squares

These squares are small, delicate, flaky little sugar cookies - but the flavors of lemon, basil, and cardamom really come through nicely. They have a good balance of savory and sweet, without being too much of either. They are so easy to make too - just beat everything together, cut into squares, bake, and done! If you don't have a scalloped-edge wheel cutter, you could use cookie cutters to cut into shapes instead. Enjoy!