Cookie Dough Truffles

Who doesn't love cookie dough? No really, is there anyone out there who doesn't? Every time I bake I am faced with the dilemma "do I take a bite of this dough even though it has raw egg in it?". Even Will asks me, "Mommy can I have a bite of your cooking or does it have raw egg in it?" These truffles combine the delicious taste of cookie dough with the safety of not getting a disease to put you in the hospital. And best of all sweetened condensed milk is the ingredient swapper for the eggs. Yes, sweetened condensed milk is another one of my favorite foods. Is sweetened condensed milk a "food"? Sure it is.

I used my little ice cream scooper to measure out the perfect size truffles & then rolled them just a little with my hands to make them round. I chilled the dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, but I did not need to freeze them after I formed the balls. My dough wasn't too soft & dipped perfectly in the chocolate. Maybe they knew I was in a hurry. But in case the dough is soft, the recipe suggestion to put them in the freezer will work well. That's how I make cake balls. Enjoy!

Recipe from: Annie's Eats

8tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
2¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1½ lb. semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate, coarsely chopped
Mini chocolate chips (for garnish)

Directions:
Combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up enough to form balls.

Shape the chilled cookie dough mixture into 1-1½ inch balls. Place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Cover loosely, transfer the pan to the freezer and chill for 1-2 hours.

When ready to dip the truffles, melt the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Dip each chilled truffle, one at a time, coating in chocolate and shaking gently to remove the excess. (If at any point during dipping, the cookie dough balls become too soft, return to the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.) Transfer to a wax-paper lined surface. If using mini chocolate chips for garnish, sprinkle on top quickly after dipping each truffle before the chocolate sets. Once all the truffles have been dipped, store them in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

German Chocolate Cake

I made this cake with my babies in mind, hoping to trick them into eating various nutritious foods hidden in the form of a cake. Instead, Patrick and I ate most of it because it was just too good. I have made many recipes form the Deceptively Delicious Cookbook & loved them all. This is a variation of the Yellow Cake recipe & topped with a traditional Coconut Pecan icing. Will & Audrey did like it & ate it not knowing that it was full of veggies, but Patrick & I did our best at hiding it from them to eat it ourselves. It does have pumpkin in it (and I do love me some pumpkin) but it is hard to taste it unless you really think about it. It just good & good for you (well, kind of)!

German Chocolate Cake

Nonstick cooking spray
1 (18 oz) box German Chocolate cake mix
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup water
2 T apple sauce
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
6 ounces vanilla yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 9 x 13 inch cake pan with cooking spray & flour lightly.
2. In a large mixing bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cake mix, pumpkin puree, water, apple sauce, eggs, egg white, and yogurt. Beat until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Pout the better into the cake pan and bake until toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Frosting

6 T butter
3/4 cup half-&-half
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped
1 t vanilla extract

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in half-&-half and brown sugar. Cook and stir until smooth. Add coconut, nuts, and extract. Cool slightly and spread over cake.

Kristin

Santa Cookies

Santa successfully made it to Gigi & Papa's house to deliver presents to Will & Audrey. Will was very excited to leave these cookies for Santa since they looked just like St. Nicholas. Although he was too excited with the Christmas Eve festivities to be my cookie helper, I loved making these cookies. They are easy & fun, and I liked that the more I made, the more life-like they began to look to me. There's enough to do on Christmas Eve without having to get out bags of flour & sugar & make homemade icing. Best of all, Santa ate them all & left word that they were deicious. Thanks Santa for stopping by! See you next year!

1 bag white choclate chips

1 package Nutter Butter cookies

Red colored sugar

64 mini semisweet chocolate chips

32 red M&Ms

Reserve 32 white cholate chip. Melt the white chocolate chips using the instructions on the back of the bag. Dip each end of the cookie into the white chocolate & place on wax paper. Then immdeiatly use colord sprinkle to make hat & then a white cholate chip to make the pom pom. Place a M&M on his beard for his mouth. Dip 2mini cholate chips in a little melted white chocolate for the eyes. Repeat 31 more times. Let set on the wax paper & enjoy!

Kristin

Stuffed Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I made these amazing cupcakes for my December book club meeting/Karen's birthday. Karen's birthday was November 29, but this time of year my carrot grating time is limited. These cupcakes are a labor of love, but they are worth every shred of grated carrot. They are so moist and the fluffy filling is such a sweet surprise. I serve them cold because I love cold cream cheese icing. Make sure you have plenty of time before you decide to whip these up.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans (I don't use nuts in mine.)

Cream Cheese Icing

1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans (Again, I don't use nuts in mine.)

Cream Filling

1 container Cool Whip
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans (optional). Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full.

Bake 17-19 minutes. Remove from muffin tin and allow cupcakes to cool on a wire rack.

While cupcakes are cooling, mix Cool Whip, 3 ounces of cream cheese, and 1/2 cup powdered sugar to make cream filling.

Use a pastry bag and a narrow tip to insert filling into cooled cupcakes. I like to make a triangle when I insert my filling to I can get as much filling as I can without busting my cupcake with a single squirt.

Finally, combine butter, 8 ounces cream cheese, 4 cups powdered sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla for cream cheese frosting. Spread liberally on cupcakes. Store in the refrigerator.

hannah

Pumpkin Dip

Hurry! Only 2 more weeks of pumpkin eating to go! Among all the candy cane, cranberry, fudge, & other Christmasy recipes, I had to make room for a pumpkin dessert. This recipe is a combination of recipes one from Taste of Home & the other from my cousin Hollie, who knows about my pumpkin obsession. This Pumpkin Dip is for graham crackers or sugar cookies, but I paired mine with Ginger Ball Cookies & it was delicious! Honestly I could just eat it by the spoon full. It tastes like liquid pumpkin pie - mmmmm..... delicious!

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 t cinnamon
1 18 oz can pumpkin pie filling (about 1/2 of a large can)
1/4 t ground ginger
3 cups powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese in mixer until smooth. Add pumpkin pie filling; beat well. Add sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Beat well. Serve with sugar cookies & graham crackers or Ginger Ball Cookies.

Note: If using a large can of pumpkin pie filling do not throw the rest away. Freeze it for the next time you make this recipe. It freezes & thaws well & this is so yummy it will certainly be made twice!


Kristin

Peppermint Bark

This recipe for Peppermint Bark is super easy, tastes super wonderful & looks super yummy too. There's no actual cooking or baking involved, just microwaving. I see little tiny boxes of Peppermint Bark in stores for like $7-$15, but mine looks just as pretty, tastes just as great (if not better), and costs way less. Does Santa like Peppermint Bark? I bet he does. And Will even creatively named these "Santa Cookies" so that's proof enough for me the Big Guy might be enjoying some of these with a glass of milk come Christmas Eve!

1 bag Toll House Milk Chocolate Morsels
1 bag Toll House White Chocolate Morsels
4 Candy Canes

Crush candy canes in a resealable freezer bag or food processor until finely ground. Melt milk chocolate morsels using the directions on the back of the bag. Spread and even layer on parchment paper or Silpat. Melt white chocolate morsels using the directions on the back of the bag. Stir in half the crushed candy canes. Spread evenly on top of milk chocolate morsels. Sprinkle remaining crushed candy canes on top. Refrigerate until firm. Break into small pieces.

Kristin

Peppermint Candy Tarts

Here's another plate of cookies to try before we make the big decision of what to leave Santa on Christmas Eve. If Santa loves candy canes, which he does, icing, which he does, & sugar cookies, which of course he does, then he is sure to love these cute little tarts. They are basically a sugar cookie with butter cream frosting mixed with crushed candy canes, but when made in the mini muffin pans they become adorable little tarts. My cookies did puff up a little during baking so I used my little liquid measuring cup (like a shot glass) & pressed them down right after I took them out of the oven to create a well for the icing. I used my food processor to crush the candy canes & used a large star tip to pipe the icing. But beware, the icing tip needs to be large enough for the crushed candy canes to pass through. I had a rather large piece of candy cane clog up my icing tip & it could have been catastrophic but luckily it happened while icing the last tart!

INGREDIENTS

Tart Shells
1/2	cup granulated sugar
1/2	cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2	teaspoon peppermint extract
1	egg
1 1/2	cups all-purpose flour
1/4	teaspoon baking soda
1/4	teaspoon salt
Filling and Garnish
2	cups powdered sugar
3	tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2	or 3 drops red food color
2	to 3 tablespoons milk
1/2	cup crushed hard peppermint candies (about 18 candies)

DIRECTIONS

	Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of 32 mini muffin cups with shortening or cooking spray. In large bowl, beat granulated sugar and 1/2 cup butter with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in peppermint extract and egg until blended. On low speed, beat in flour, baking soda and salt.
	Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Press each ball in bottom and up side of muffin cup.
	Bake 9 to 12 minutes until set and edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from muffin cups to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
	In small bowl, beat filling ingredients except crushed candies with electric mixture on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Stir in 1/4 cup of the candies. Spoon or pipe 1 rounded measuring teaspoon filling into center of each tart shell. Sprinkle with remaining crushed candies. Kristin

Reindeer Cookies

Ho, ho, ho it's finally time for Christmas treats. Will & I started off this festive holiday season with these reindeer cookies. At 3 1/2 Will already can name all 8 reindeer & knows every word to "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer". Gotta love his holiday spirit! In honor of his reindeer obsession, I made heart shaped sugar cookies, buttercream icing, & chocolate dipped pretzels to make "Rudolf cookies, because they have a very shiny red nose." I had seen a recipe for reindeer cookies last year, but after I search the internet & couldn't find them, I just made my own. We didn't have M&Ms which would have been my first choice for eyes & nose, but chocolate chips & a little red icing worked better than a special trip to the store. Let the Christmas cookie baking begin!

Note: I made 1 recipe of frosting & made 1/2 of it vanilla & 1/2 chocolate by adding 1/4 cup of baking cocoa to the chocolate frosting. My little reindeer likes "va-nil-la" frosting! To assemble cookies, frost heart shaped cookies, add two chocolate chips for eyes, a blob of red frosting for the nose & place 2 chocolate dipped pretzels on each side of the "head" for the antlers. I made 20 reindeer cookies with a few leftover sugar cookies for little Audrey to enjoy. Store in the refrigerator.

Sugar Cookies:

1 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon

In a large bowl cream butter. Add egg & mix. Add sugar & beat well. Add remaining ingredients and mix. On a floured surface, roll out douag 1/2 -inch thick. Add flour if dough is too sticky. Cut dough into desired shapes. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire rack & frost with your favorite buttercream or cream cheese frosting. Makes 2 to 3 dozen cookies.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

1 stick butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Beat butter until smooth. Beat in remaining ingredients until smooth, anout 2 minutes. Add additional milk a little at a time if thinner consistency is desired.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

Substitute 1/2 cup baking cocoa for 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar.


Kristin

Pumpkin Cake

Since Audrey shared her birthday with our Very Fake Thanksgiving, I went with a Fall theme & made her a pumpkin shaped & flavored birthday cake. I had seen in Williams Sonoma a few years ago two Bundt pans specially made to be the top & bottom for a pumpkin shaped cake. I already have a Bundt pan & with enough icing, no one would know it didn’t have the molding of vines & pumpkin details under it!

Sadly, I have only used a spice cake mix with a can of pumpkin to make a pumpkin cake. Since it was for Audrey’s first birthday I decided to look for a pumpkin cake recipe made from scratch. This one received rave reviews & I managed to only make a few changes by upping the spices & reducing some calories. The result – the best pumpkin cake I’ve ever tasted! It was flavorful & moist. Most importantly, Audrey loved it!

I found this recipe for cream cheese icing on allrecipes.com. I learned it was featured on Throw Down with Bobby Flay. Well, it certainly was delicious & my new “go to” cream cheese icing recipe. The only problem is it’s really soft. For the orange it was perfect, but for the leaves & vines I added some more powdered sugar to give it more structure.

I used two cake ice cream cones to make the stem. The first I put in the hole of the two cake & the second I dipped in melted chocolate, firmed in the refrigerator, & put upside down in the center. I think it turned out pretty cute & for what it lacked in beauty it made up for in taste!

*Note: It takes 2 recipes of the pumpkin cake to make the tope & bottom of the pumpkin shaped cake.

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil ( I used ½ oil ½ applesauce)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I used pumpkin pie spice)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional, no nuts for the baby)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 12x18 inch pan( I used a Bundt pan). Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine sugar and oil. Blend in vanilla and pumpkin, then beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in nuts. Spread batter into prepared 12x18 inch pan (or Bundt pan).
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Cream Cheese Icing II.

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.
   

Kristin

Marchmallow Pilgrim Hats

We have a guest chef featured on our blog, my husband, Patrick. While Patrick actually only knows how to cook cereal & Pop Tarts, he somehow channeled all of his culinary talents to make these delicious & cute Pilgrim Hat Cookies for Audrey's birthday party. I couldn't believe my ears when Patrick told me he would help me make these cookies while I was making her birthday cake. I told him what to do & he was off, making 25 perfect Pilgrim hats! Well, the proof of the ease of preparing these cookies is in our novice chef, and the proof of their deliciousness is that we ate them all that day! Who doesn't love chocolate covered marshmallows & those yummy striped shortbread cookies made from the Keebler elves in their tree. Patrick also gave me the tip that instead of using 2 toothpicks, just stick the cookie up the toothpick & pull the toothpick down the hole in the cookie! He's talented & smart! Hey Patrick, does this mean you are my new sous chef?

* I made my own icing (since I was making it for Audrey's cake, too) & colored it yellow. It worked very well.

Ingredients

• 24 chocolate-striped shortbread cookies
• 12-ounce package of chocolate chips

• 24 marshmallows
• tube of yellow decorators' frosting

Instructions

1. Set the chocolate-striped cookies stripes down on a wax-paper-covered tray, spacing them well apart.

2. Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave or double boiler.

3. One at a time, stick a wooden toothpick into a marshmallow, dip the marshmallow into the melted chocolate, and promptly center it atop a cookie.

4. Using a second toothpick to lightly hold down the marshmallow, carefully pull out the first toothpick.

5. Chill the hats until the chocolate sets, then pipe a yellow decorators' frosting buckle on the front of each hat.

Kristin & Patrick

Banana Pudding

This is a quick and easy recipe for a delicious treat that everyone loves. This particular batch was for my boss, Jennifer. She loves it and is actually a little greedy with it when I make it. We were recently traveling together, and she got some banana pudding for dessert. After the first bite she said, "Yours is better" and pushed it aside. You can make it almost guilt-free by using sugar-free pudding, fat-free sweetened condensed milk, sugar-free Cool Whip, and reduced-fat Nilla Wafers.

1 package French vanilla instant pudding
1 cup water
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 ounce) container Cool Whip
2 bananas
1 box Nilla Wafers

Combine pudding, water and sweetened condensed milk. Fold in Cool Whip. Spread a layer of pudding mixture in the bottom of an 8X8 pan. Add a layer of Nilla Wafers and bananas, then top with a layer of pudding. Continue layering until pudding mixture is finished. Top with crushed Nilla Wafers if desired. Store in the refrigerator.

hannah

Pumpkin Blondies

This recipe comes from one of my favorite food blogs, Annie’s Eats. She is a medical resident, a wife & a new mommy. Somehow she still has time to cook & bake, especially cupcakes!

After a few pumpkin cakes & pumpkin breads, I decided to make a new pumpkin recipe. These pumpkin blondies are moist & delicious. My friends Mike & Emily gave them great reviews after trying the blondies on their way to his medical internship interview. I thought it was ironic that this recipe came from Annie, my online medical resident chef. Hopefully they brought him good luck since we would love for them to live closer to us!

I actually forgot to add the butterscotch chips & although they were pretty close to perfect, I think I will add them next time…and oh, there will definitely be a next time. I also forgot to take a picture, so this picture comes from Annie herself.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups granulated sugar (or brown sugar)
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
½ cup chopped, toasted nuts (optional)

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with foil. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Stir together and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree. With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the white chocolate and butterscotch chips (and nuts, if using) with a rubber spatula. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before cutting. To serve, lift the cake from the pan using the foil and transfer to a cutting board. Peel off the foil and using a sharp knife, cut into 24 squares.

Kristin