My Favorite Chewy Chocolate Cookie Recipe

Hello, I'm still here! =)

Things have just been quite busy at home that I couldn't find (or make) time to blog.  So before the month of May ends (can you believe we are almost at the middle of the year), I want to post something for you.

I have a confession to make. . . I don't like baking cookies!  

It's funny that I can bake a banana loaf (my favorite recipe here) and I managed to bake my boy's Chocolate Birthday cake (you can read about it here) . . but cookies?  Not really my favorite thing to do, haha!

I've tried a couple of recipes before which didn't work out and I tried one recipe which  I liked (I even called it "my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe" back then).  But somehow, I just stopped baking cookies. I thought buying a bag of Chunky Chips Ahoy at the grocery is the easiest (and smartest, haha) thing to do!

But having seen a lot of recipe feeds in my FB about homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies encouraged me to try baking some again.

There are a lot. . .like A LOT of chocolate chip recipes online.  So I just went to Food Network (because I'm a fan, hihi) and saw that they have a recipe for a Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie!  (Hubby and I prefer chewy over a crunchy cookie.)  

Thanks to Food Network, I found my new favorite recipe!  Woohoo!

I am sooo happy with how they turned out!  

They were thin and crispy on the edges and then . . . 

Moist and buttery inside. . . Yummm!

A recipe which called for 2 1/2 sticks of butter (I knowwww) is promising right?  As they say, butter makes everything better!  Haha!

One of the things I did for this recipe which I think helped in enhancing the flavor of the cookie is putting the dough in the ref overnight.  In the recipe, the baking time for the cookie is 12 minutes. However, for my batch, the perfect baking time was around 10-11 minutes.  I suggest making a small batch for each time to see which one would suit your taste (in terms of color and consistency).  

This is my take-away from the recipe of Food Network: When you see the edges of the cookie turn golden, even if the middle part is still soft, take out the cookie from the oven and let them cool (for 10 mins) before transferring them to a cooling rack.  I am not a baker but I think the residual heat from the pan would cook the middle part a little bit more. 

I found the cookies a little bit sweet so I might reduce the granulated sugar next time.

But this recipe definitely works for me!  It is hubby-approved (he is NOT a fan of anything sweet!) and I think that says something about these cookies (and his love for me, hahaha!). =)  

For the full recipe, please click on this link to head to Food Network's site.

My First (Successful!) Chocolate Cupcake

March, I can't believe you are here!!!

I know this sounds cliche but . . . time really, REALLY flies so fast!  

And because I started February with a cake recipe, I thought of starting March with a sweet treat too . . . . Chocolate Cupcake with Milk Chocolate Frosting!!! 

I've tried making chocolate cupcakes before (once) but I wasn't too happy about the recipe.  The cupcakes tasted bland and were dry. 

Sometimes when you try a recipe and fail at it, you get discouraged and scared to try again.  (Parang love lang, haha!)

But then one day, you realize, you ought to give yourself another chance to try other recipes because there are better ones out there, you will find that ONE that would make you happy and make you say that you are glad to have tried again (yes, i'm still talking about cupcakes . . .and love I guess, haha).

There are so many recipes out there but I thought of trying one recipe by Aikko of Bake Happy simply because her blog post title had the following words. . .EASY to make and MOIST!  

Looking at the recipe, I wasn't sure at first because it doesn't have any eggs and butter!  I can't imagine baking something without those two ingredients!  But this recipe had mayonnaise and yogurt in it, which in my "not so expert" opinion replaces the butter and eggs and are the ingredients responsible for making the cupcake moist.  This recipe also got good reviews from Bake Happy's followers so I decided to go for it.

After seeing the batter, I had a good feeling about these cupcakes because the color of the  batter looked nice, haha!

And the cupcakes looked better compared to the first recipe I tried!

The cupcakes were moist and they tasted good (it didn't matter they don't have eggs and butter, haha) If you are a first time baker or if you are just looking for a simple cupcake recipe, I recommend this one.  Also, aren't you curious how cupcakes which have mayonnaise taste like?  =)

As for the chocolate frosting, the original recipe called for Malagos unsweetened chocolate.  I wanted to use the chocolate tablea discs I have but since toddlers have discerning tastes, I just made a Milk Chocolate Frosting (recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction).

And here's the tricky part (for me) . . . frosting the cupcakes!

Because I am not good at it!  So I just went to YouTube and just looked for a simple tutorial on how to frost cupcakes (using an icing spatula).

This is my best, haha. =)   I wish I had sprinkles!

But if there's one thing I love about having to frost a cupcake though . . . it is letting our Princess do her share and seeing her having a good time!

For the Chocolate Cupcake recipe, please click here.

For the Milk Chocolate frosting recipe, please click here.

Happy Baking!  

My First Cake: The Hummingbird Cake

Hello February!  You're already halfway through and I haven't put up any blog posts yet! =)

And because it is the month of love, I am going to post a cake recipe I tried which is a "labor of love". I call it as such because. . . I never make cakes!  For some reason, I am scared to bake a cake, haha!  

For my first cake, I really wanted to bake a chocolate cake (and I actually have a couple of recipes for it from friends) but I saw a recipe from my FB feed (forgot which website featured it) called Hummingbird Cake which looked easy to make and besides, I have some overripe bananas on hand which I can use for this cake.  How do I describe this cake?  Simply put, it is banana cake with pineapple tidbits and covered with cream cheese frosting. 

Here is a trivia about the Hummingbird cake:  According to Wiki, "this cake has been a tradition in Southern cuisine since the mid-20th century".  The recipe (written by Mrs. L.H . Wiggins of Greensboro, North Carolina) was first published by Southern Living Magazine in 1978 and was hailed as their most (or one of the most) requested recipe.

The recipes can be seen at www.myrecipes.com.  

For the cake recipe, please click on this link: Hummingbird Cake

And for the cream cheese frosting, kindly click on this link: Cream Cheese Frosting

Now, as to how my cake turned out . . . . 

Tadahhhhh . . . . 

I am not a highly creative individual and I'm sure I could have done a better job decorating the cake, haha!  I just decorated it with some toasted pecans and since it was Valentine's Day, I got an entwined hearts-shaped cookie cutter and used is as a guide to decorate the center of the cake.

Can you spot the "entwined" hearts?  I promise, that thing in the middle is made up of two hearts! haha!

I am not really fond of icing so I just made half of the amount indicated in the recipe.  

Thus, this look. . . .  

I know. . . it looks unfinished, incomplete. . . which kind of gives it a "rustic" charm, just like how a "naked cake" looks like! 

If this is the first time you heard about a "naked cake", I promise there is such a thing and that I am not making this up, haha!

Here is a sample of a naked wedding cake: 

Image from www.parfaitaustralia.com

So if you don't know how to frost a cake (like I do) or if you ran out of icing for the cake (like I did), just save face and claim that your cake is a naked cake! Haha!

Happy Baking!

Remember, there are time when you can have your cake and eat it too! =)

Tried and Tested: Crinkles Recipe

I love Crinkles!  I have a sweet tooth so anything that has sugar (and chocolate!) is heaven for me! Heehee. . . Some people call them cookies.  How do I describe them?  Eating them is like eating a chocolate cake/fudgy brownie coated in powdery white sugar!  

The best Crinkles I've had (in no particular order) were from Becky's Kitchen (along P. Ocampo St. in Singalong, Manila), HungryPac, and believe it or not. . . from the cafeteria of ADB!  (THE Asian Development Bank in Mandaluyong).  So if you have family or friends who work in ADB, consider yourself lucky because you have a way of getting them!  

When we moved to LA, I had a sudden craving for this sweet treat so I googled for a recipe and found this posted at www.allrecipes.com (Thanks to a member, Ingrid!).  I chose this recipe because the ingredients are easy to find and the directions are pretty simple.

These crinkles turned out pretty good and have given them as Christmas gifts to family and friends (which they liked. . . sabi nila, haha!).  But I am still dreaming about those Crinkles which I've mentioned earlier.  

This Crinkles recipe works so I am still keeping it but I would like to still try other recipes for this chocolate treat.  Do you have a favorite Crinkles recipe?  Care to share it? =)

(UPDATE as of June 2016, I found my favorite crinkle recipe for keeps!  Please click here if you want to read about it.)

If you want to try baking Crinkles, you may want to try this recipe =)

Please click on this link to go to the original post at www.allrecipes.com.

*This recipe makes 6 dozen crinkles

Ingredients:

- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

- 2 cups white sugar

- 1/2 cup vegetable oil

 - 4 eggs

- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

- 2 cups all-purpose flour

- 2 teaspoons baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 cup Confectioner's Sugar

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil.  Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.  Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture.  Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Roll dough into one inch balls.  I like to use a number 50 size scoop.  Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes.  Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

My Personal Notes:

1. If you are fond of baking and plan to do lots of it, I suggest that you get a digital weighing scale. (Mine wasn't expensive at all, there are reasonably-priced ones out there).  One of the things I learned about baking (unlike cooking) is the importance of accuracy in measuring the ingredients. Also, I suggest googling the right weight for each ingredient.  Case in point, the weight of one cup of sugar (200 grams) is different from a cup of cocoa powder (100 grams). They  may seem the same because they are both "1 cup" but there's actually a big difference in the weight.

2. I read some reviews for this recipe and some of the suggestions I read were:

 - If you don't have 4 hours, freeze the dough for a couple of hours (instead of chilling it)

 - Use Dutch processed cocoa powder for a more intense chocolate taste

- Make sure to really cover your balls with lots of Confectioner's sugar so you get that Crinkle to crack

3. If you don't have a number 50 scoop (like me!) to use for the ball, just eyeball it.=)

4. For lesser mess, just drop the ball directly into a bowl of confectioner's sugar and roll it around.

5. I suggest baking small batches in different times (10, 11 or 12 mins) to know which would give you the Crinkles you like. 

6. In my experience and I don't know if this has a scientific basis (because Baking is Science), I feel that the crinkles---which I baked using a dough that was frozen overnight--- tasted better, haha! (Whew, that was a long sentence! Haha!)

HAPPY BAKING!