Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

I joined the very fun "Cookie Carnival" and this was the recipe of the month for June. Kate is the blogger-extraordinaire at the clean plate club and hosts the cookie carnival every month. This is a Martha Stewart recipe and they tasted yummy, very sweet, and more like a fancy biscuit rather than a cookie cookie. The strawberries were the star of the show!

Ingredients

Makes about 3 dozen

• 12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (I actually used a splenda blend)
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cream until dough starts to come together, then stir in strawberry mixture.
2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing evenly apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake until golden brown, 24 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool. Cookies are best served immediately, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.

*notes. I used my regular cookie scoop and maybe got 30 cookies out of the batch. I set the timer for 10 minutes, thinking I would rotate the sheets halfway through baking. Lo and behold, they were done! The bottoms were golden brown and they were very ready to be taken out of the oven. So baker beware, these babies bake up quickly! And they really are best served immediately, slightly warm or barely at room temperature. The next day, not so fantastic. But they are very tasty and if you are looking for more strawberry baking recipes, this is a must try.

Creme Brulee French Toast

Recipe courtesy of Susie Powers featured in the Worldwide Ward Cookbook, pg. 28. If you are looking for a new cookbook, I recommend picking this one up, I have loved it so far, lots more I am hoping to try soon!

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 c brown sugar, packed
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
Bread, sliced, to cover butter mixture
5 large eggs
1 1/2 c half and half
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

In a saucepan, melt butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup.
Pour into a 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Arrange bread pieces on top. Beat eggs together, half and half, vanilla and salt. Pour egg mixture over the top of the bread.
Cover and chill overnight in the refrigerator.
The next morning, bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

No adjustments, make it, bake it and eat it up!! our family loved it!

Coconut Cupcakes

Ingredients

Makes 2 dozen

• 3 cups cake flour (yes, I used cake flour, no cheating with all-purpose)
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup coconut milk (read the comments on the martha site, ANY kind of canned coconut milk will work well)
  
• 8 large egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups shredded sweetened coconut

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.
4. In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining egg-white mixture; stir in shredded coconut.
5. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each with a heaping 1/4 cup batter. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the cupcakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack. Invert cupcakes onto rack; then reinvert and let cool completely, top sides up. Frost cupcakes with seven minute frosting, swirling to cover. Cupcakes may be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Garnish with fresh coconut just before serving.

notes: didn't use 7 minute frosting, went with my favorite buttercream straight from my reliable better homes and gardens cookbook. tasted fab. also, toasted some coconut (1 cup @ 350 spread out on a cookie sheet, 5-10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant) and rolled the edges of the freshly frosted cupcakes in the toasted coconut. hhhhmmmm. made for a pretty AND tasty cupcake.

Best Damn Chocolate Cake Ever

Ripped from the internet, sorry I can't remember where! Yes, I will back up the name of this cake a million times over! It is THAT good. Can't stop eating it, make sure a fork is close to the cake at all times for quick nibbles throughout the day, tell other family members it didnt' turn out so great so they are not tempted to eat it, stay away from if you are on a diet, this is sure to make you fall off the wagon!

ingredients:

1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 small box Jello instant chocolate pudding mix (not the sugar or fat free kind!)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1 cup regular size milk chocolate chips)

mix all ingredients together (minus choc.chips) until very smooth, roughly 2-3 minutes with a hand held mixer.
stir in chips and pour into well greased bundt pan.
follow directions on cake box, should be 350 for 45-50 minutes.
watch closely, I usually pull mine out right at 45 because the toothpick is clean and nothing is worse than an overdone, dry cake.
Let it sit in the bundt pan for 10 minutes before turning out.

no frosting required, just a generous dusting of powdered sugar!

Buttermilk Cookies

One day I was in the mood for a fancy cookie, something pretty and tasty. This was it! So moist and flavorful, I really, REALLY liked them. And the icing makes them uber fancy. Thanks Melanie!

ps-sorry I was lame and didn't snap a photo of my finished product, here's a glass jar of buttermilk to inspire you! or just visit My Kitchen Cafe, her pictures turned out great!

Stolen from My Kitchen Café who adapted from Gourmet and found on Sweets by Sarah

Makes 3 dozen

For Cookies:
3 c all purpose flour
zest of 1 lemon (about 2-3 teaspoons)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

1 1/2 c granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla
2/3 c well-shaken buttermilk

For Glaze:
1 1/2 c confectioners sugar
3 T well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in middle. Butter 2 large baking sheets (I lined with parchment) Whisk together flour, zest, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in batches at low speed, beginning and ending with flour mixture, until smooth. At this point, its recommended to chill the dough for roughly 20 minutes. I stuck mine in the freezer in the garage for about 15 and it seemed fine.

Drop level tablespoons of dough about 1 1/2 inches apart onto baking sheet. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until cookies are puffed and edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes per batch. Cool cookies on sheets 1 minute, then transfer to racks.

Whisk together all glaze ingredients and brush onto tops of warm cookies. Let stand until cookies are completely cooled and glaze is set.

Angel Food Cake

thanks to my friend Nikki Joiner for emailing the recipe, I never thought homemade angel food cakes could be as fluffy as store bought. I was wrong! Great flavor and stayed light and airy. and I actually bought cake flour instead of cheating with all-purpose flour. I used vanilla extract instead of orange.

Angel food cake from Alton Brown

* 1 3/4 cups sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup cake flour, sifted
* 12 egg whites (the closer to room temperature the better)
* 1/3 cup warm water
* 1 teaspoon orange extract, or extract of your choice
* 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a food processor spin sugar about 2 minutes until it is superfine. Sift half of the sugar with the salt the cake flour, setting the remaining sugar aside.

In a large bowl, use a balloon whisk to thoroughly combine egg whites, water, orange extract, and cream of tartar. After 2 minutes, switch to a hand mixer. Slowly sift the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed. Once you have achieved medium peaks, sift enough of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.

Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. (When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry).

Cool upside down on cooling rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.

Cook's Note: Since they're easier to separate use the freshest eggs you can get.