earl grey shortbread cookies

baked these cookies today. they were super easy to make. even a monkey could do it, cuz i'm sure monkeys know how to use an electric beater, they do have opposable thumbs. u basically dump all 5 ingredients into a bowl, mix, then press onto the bottom of an 8 inch square pan.

earl grey shortbread cookies

*1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

*1 tbsp earl grey tea leaves (about 2 tea bags)

*1/2 cup powdered sugar

*1 cup flour

*1/2 tsp salt

preheat oven to 325 degrees F. grease an 8 inch square pan. beat together butter and tea. add powdered sugar and beat. add flour and salt then beat. transfer dough to prepared greased pan and press down with fingers to make an even layer. bake until edges are golden, about 30 minutes. using a fork make perforated lines down into the dough to form 16 cookies. cool for 10 minutes, then slide cookies out of pan.

i really enjoyed these cookies, especially since it's my first time baking shortbread cookies. the texture is just right and i'll def be making these again. the only thing i would change would be to either omit the salt of reduce it down to 1/4 tsp. i like this recipe cuz it's so easy aaaaand i can make it with all different kinds of teas.

irish car bomb cupcakes

i baked stout cupcakes as i do every st patrick's day, but  this year i changed it up a bit. i had left hand milk stout so i used that for the cupcake, and i made baileys frosting. i meant to do something with irish whiskey, but i kind of forgot, but either way these cupcakes were soo fuggin yummy. when i moved i apparently threw away my cupcake pan so i only had a mini cupcake pan and i must say i love baking mini cupcakes so much more than regular cupcakes. the take half the time to bake and sometimes a huge cupcake is too much for some people. so since this was my first time baking mini cupcakes, i didn't realize it meant i'd be making triple the cupcakes! so i bake half of the batter and i had like 50 cupcakes. i ended up bringing a bunch to work. then the following day i baked the remaining batter for a bbq and i still had a ton of cupcakes leftover from that, so i brought those to work as well.

irish car bomb cupcakes (yields 24 cupcakes, 48 mini cupcakes)

*1 cup stout

*1 cup butter, softened

*3/4 cup cocoa pwdr

*2 cups flour

*2 cups sugar

*1 1/2 tsp baking soda

*2 eggs

*3/4 tsp salt

*2/3 cup sour cream

frosting:

*2 cups butter, softened

*5 cups powdered sugar

*6 tbsp baileys

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. bring the stout and butter to a simmer in a saucepan. add the cocoa powder and whish until smooth. cool slightly. whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. beat eggs and sour cream together then add stout chocolate mixture. add the flour mixture. bake for 17 minutes (8-10minutes for mini cupcakes). frosting: whip butter, then add powdered sugar. add baileys and mix. frost cupcakes after completely cooled.

apple crumble pie

i had a giant bag of apples, so i made this pie again. it's def one of my favorite pies to eat. it's pretty easy to make, the only pain in the ass thing to do is cut up the apples. now that i'm looking at this photo, i want to eat this again.

cream cheese sugar cookies

 i haven't written a post in forever. i kind of actually forgot i had a blog until gillian mentioned it the other day. i've been away for a while. not locked up or anything. i just checked my last post and noticed it was right before i went to sedona, az (i did not join a cult either), i went to the grand canyon for the first time, then i moved back home to brooklyn for about 3 months, then i moved to amarillo, tx. so this recipe is the second thing i baked since i've been here. the first thing was a chocolate meringue pie that came out awful! i baked these cookies because i wanted to use the siamese twin gingerbread man cookie cutters my friend amanda had given me. she purchased them from the mutter museum in philly, which is a place i tell everyone to visit even though i haven't been there myself. i also realized i don't bake cookies too often and i want to learn how to make them better.

cream cheese sugar cookies

*1 cup sugar

*1 cup butter, softened

*1-3oz pkg of cream cheese, softened

*1/2 tsp salt

*1/2 tsp almond extract

*1/2 tsp vanilla extract

*1 egg yolk

*2 1/4 cup flour

combine sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond & vanilla extracts. beat until smooth then stir in flour. chill dough for at least 8 hours. preheat oven to 375 degrees F. on lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/3 at a time at 1/8 inch thickness. refrigerate remaining dough. cut w cookie cutter and bake on ungreased baking sheet for 7-10 minutes. cool completely before frosting.

the only thing i changed with the recipe is that i used lemon extract instead of almond extract. i also make a cream cheese lemon frosting. these cookies were da bomb.

black bottom banana bread

i've been trying to use up ingredients i have around the house, so i baked this black bottom banana bread. i had 3 bananas leftover from banana pancakes i made, and they were really really really ripe. almost rotton, but not yet. i also didn't have ovaltine, and since i was just using stuff i had around the house, i used this 3/8 cups of this chocolate caramel hot chocolate mix ryan bought me from disney world, and 1/8 cup of malted milk. i know, the way i'm describing this banana bread sounds so appealing, right? the end result is soo amazing. i love this recipe because it uses whole wheat flour and i love the flavor and texture of whole wheat, which is something i'm trying to use more of because i have a bag of it i need to finish before i move. also, the bananas, and yogurt make this whole wheat bread moist and not dry and all. ugh it's soo good i'm gonna eat it all.


1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe bananas, mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup OVALTINE Rich Chocolate Mix
Directions
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Spray bottom of 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

COMBINE whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.

COMBINE bananas, sugar, butter, yogurt, eggs and vanilla extract in large bowl; stir well. Stir in flour mixture just until moistened. Remove 1 cup of batter and place into separate bowl along with Ovaltine; stir until combined.

SPOON Ovaltine mixture into prepared pan; top with remaining banana batter.

BAKE for 55 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes; transfer to wire rack to cool completely. (Bread can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

pecan pie

*notice how the photos have been so much better since i found my camera and i haven't been using my cell phone camera?

I finally baked a pecan pie! i don't know what took me so long to bake one. it's not like i'm scared of pecan pie like i'm scared of yeast. i think it's because i almost never buy pecans, even though i love pecans. i finally got ryan to try a pecan and he said "eh not so bad". BUT he has still not eaten a piece of pie yet! 

i baked the pecan pie because i'm trying to use up everything in the kitchen since i'm moving soon, and i had everything to bake this. surprisingly it was very easy positioning the pecans on the pie, even though they weren't all halves they were mostly quarter pieces and smaller. this pie has less of a corn syrup flavor, that wasn't done on purpose. i didn't want to buy dark corn syrup since i already had a giant light corn syrup i almost never use and i had a jar of molasses melinda had given me when she moved. so there ya go 3/4 cup light syrup and 1/4 cup molasses = 1 cup dark corn syrup. also i used 2 jumbo eggs instead of 3 eggs and it congealed just fine.

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup of dark corn syrup

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

1/4 cup of butter (4 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

4 ounces of pecans, halved

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (either store-bought or homemade)

Directions

In a small saucepan melt the butter and cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine and stir the sugar, the syrup and the vinegar.

Add the melted butter and the beaten eggs. Pour the mixture into an unbaked pie crust.

Place the pecans on the top of the mixture and crust. Start on the edge and work your way inside.

Then take a fork and push down slightly on each pecan so it is in the mixture a bit.

Bake at 350 degrees F. until firm, which is about 1 hour.

bacon chive pancakes, rice pudding and a whole lot of brisket

we're planning on moving soon so i quit my job and now have plenty of time to cook. since i've been cooking so much, i keep forgetting to take pictures and updating this, which doesn't matter anyway, it's not like anyone but gillian reads this blog. some of the yummy things i've made are buttermilk pancakes with bacon and chives in them, a rice pudding dessert that is tasty but i keep forgetting to save room for and i'll explain why...it's all the briskets fault. ryan brought home a 5lb brisket the other day. he was going to cook it but had some work to do so i made it. it was my first time cooking brisket and i'm excited because it came out so good, i can't wait to see what it'll taste like when i'm more experienced. so i've been eating brisket everyday ever since, and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. today i made brisket breakfast burritos, with bbq sauce, salsa and sour cream to garnish. holy crap that way yummy! i was so happy no one else was in the room when i was eating it because i'm sure i looked somewhere between a national geographic show, a hot dog eating contest, and the end of every epic meal time episode. basically, it was really messy and i was just shoveling the food into my mouth, and i'm sure i used up a whole roll of paper towels in the process. it was this clip of me eating a salami hero in the bronx zoo times 1000. it was so tasty i wish i could share with everyone, but instead i'm just going to ear it all my myself. btw here is the rice pudding recipe i used if you wanna make some dope ass rice pudding:


3/4 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups milk, divided
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
In another saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg and raisins. Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm.