Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

I've been baking like crazy recently. You have noooo idea. I baked six different things last night for my boyfriend's nieces' birthday party today. They're growing up so fast! I have a lot to live up to at every one of the boy's family events now... Since I brought baked goods the first time I met everyone, I'm kind of expected to bring them for the rest of my life. I've designated myself as the dessert girl without purposely doing so. Hahaha, I don't mind.. I actually love it! Being able to bake Costco amounts of food and having it all be eaten in a day makes me feel great. Plus, my boyfriend has an amazing family and they're well worth the effort.

This recipe comes from Pete Bakes and is uh-mazing. Recipes that come from the family and passed down are always the best. Also, it's from a boy that bakes! How presh is that?! Do you have any idea how hard they are to find? As much as I love my boyfriend, he can barely boil water if his life depended on it. Boys that can cook, let alone bake, are rare to come by. Trust me. Also, trust me when I say that this recipe truly rocks. It's moist, light, and pleasantly sweet.

• 1 stick butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp water
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 6 oz chocolate chips

1. mix 1/2 cup white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, chocolate chips.

2. cream butter, 1 cup white sugar, and eggs. add the sour cream, vanilla and water.

3. in a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and soda. combine into the wet ingredients.

4. pour half of the batter into a greased and floured 9×13 inch pan. sprinkle half of the cinnamon, sugar and chocolate chip mixture on the batter. pour in the rest of the batter and top with the rest of the cinnamon, sugar and chip mix.

5. bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. let it cool for at least an hour before cutting into it, or the chocolate chips will be too melty and it will be hard to get out of the pan.

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oh, p.s. i created a FORMSPRING, so click over and ask me anything you'd like!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

So this... is the best carrot cake in the world. I stand by it like no other. I've posted it twice on my blog before as my first paid cake and with an amateur picture, but that was way back when I had a crappy camera and didn't know much about lighting/food photography/blogging... anything, really. What a difference time and knowledge makes!

I've baked this many times before, yet always fail to post the recipe because it came from my aunt and it always seemed so secretive. It was actually the recipe of her wedding cake, and she loved it so much that she had to get the recipe from the baker. Ever since then, it's been baked multiple times in the family. I finally decided to post it because it's just too good not to share. I've been selfish enough over the past couple years keeping this to myself and am finally letting it out. ::whew:: That was difficult. Seriously.

So please, cherish this recipe as much as I do. If not the cake, definitely the frosting. I've tried plenty of cream cheese frosting recipes and this one still remains my favorite. You can use it on anything else you want-- red velvet cupcakes, chocolate cake, banana bread.. Heck, just make it and eat it straight out of the bowl!

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups AP flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 cups shredded carrot
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar

Mix all ingredients well with a wooden spoon. Pour into desired pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes (more or less depending on pan size) until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the cream cheese frosting:

• 8 oz cream cheese (only use Philadelphia brand!)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• few drops of water

Beat all ingredients well and spread on top of cooled cake.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day.. whether it was with your significant other or with a box of chocolates. My boyfriend surprised me and took me to go see the movie "Valentine's Day" and I was absolutely delighted. Any movie with Bradley Cooper is lovelovelove! As for dinner, I ended up cooking my first real meal ever for the boy and it wasn't too shabby, if I do say so myself. Call me crazy, but I'm terrified of cooking. I've never been good at it or really tried. It's just not my cup of tea. For some reason, I find it so much more complicated and stressful than baking. I ended up making lemon/cilantro chicken, mexican rice, roasted potatoes, and rosemary focaccia bread. A little ambitious for my first cooking meal, I know.. but the boy is worth every bit of it. The bread turned out beautifully despite my hatred for yeast, but more on that later! Now that I've broken down my fear of cooking, you can expect me to branch out from the oven.

Usually, I'd take any other flavored cookie over chocolate, but there are those days where nothing can satisfy you quite as well as a chocolate cookie. Today was one of those days. This recipe comes slightly adapted from allrecipes.com and I chose it because it had 1,402 reviews. Anything with over a thousand reviews is a definite try in my book. This recipe didn't fail me--- thank you allrecipes! The nuts blended well with the chocolate, as always. There's something about chocolate and walnuts that's just magical. The cookie itself was pleasant, fudgy, and moist... exactly the way a chocolate cookie should be.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cups brown sugar
  
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In large bowl, beat butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake

So I just got fingerprinted today for part of my teaching credential program. 80 bucks, seriously!?! I just spent my month's money worth of food to have my identity taken. I mean, the process only took ten minutes at most, so I'm still confused at why it costs so darn much. Teachers don't even make any money, anyways! Rip off the ones that have the money to be ripped off.. Sigh.. End rant.

I painted my room last night with my dad and couldn't LOVE it more. It used to be a bright seafoam green (I went through my Roxy stage ten years ago and decorated my room to fit the whole "surfer theme") and now it's a tan/light brown/beige color. It makes such a big difference on the way my room looks now. My room is now currently my little side project that I'm working on and I'm revamping it to make it more suitable to my age. Haha.

Now onto the cake...Thank goodness for Pioneer Woman. I've never met her or talked to her in real life, but I feel like I know her. Those are always the best bloggers, right?--- The ones that you seem to know oh so well. I don't take any credit for this recipe, for this one is truly hers. You can find it posted on her blog here. This recipe has wandered across the baking world and finally made its way into my kitchen. I've had it bookmarked for months since it's been raved about so much, and I can now stand behind it with the rest of the bloggers. I took it into work and everyone raved about it. It's delectably moist without having too much of an overpowering chocolate taste. It's a light cake, so be careful not to eat the entire thing in one sitting (or do, who am I to tell you what not to do?)!

For the Cake:

• 2 cups Flour
• 2 cups Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
• 2 sticks Butter
• 1 cup Boiling Water
• ½ cups Buttermilk
• 2 whole Beaten Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  

  For Frosting:
  

• ½ cups Finely Chopped Pecans
• 1-¾ stick Butter
• 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
• 6 Tablespoons Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
2. In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
   Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
3. In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.
4. While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.
5. Cut into squares & eat.
   

Brown Sugar & Spice Cut-Out DHARMA cookies!

Ah! Lost premiere tonight! I have a confession to make... I'm not THAT much of a crazy Lost fan like a lot of people out there. I simply pay attention to the show and remember not to miss any episodes, for fear of completely falling behind. Now, that doesn't mean that I have the need to go buy a khaki jumpsuit, find a dharma patch to put on it, and jump into my blue Volkswagon van. I'm sorry to all you readers that don't watch Lost, for I probably lost you in this last paragraph alone. You see, my boyfriend is a die hard lost fan-- I'm talking about Lost forums, Lost discussions, Lost theories.... all of the above. He was having a little get together to watch the premiere tonight and I decided to bake for the boys. This is what I came up with.

I'm still kicking myself in the butt for forgetting to dye the cookies red before rolling them out, but I wasn't about to go put the dough back into the mixer just to do that. So, I trucked along and ended up with this. Of course, I didn't have a fish stencil, so I free handed one on cardboard and used that as a template. As for the letters, I used my Christmas present from my boyfriend's sister in law to press "dharma" into the cookies. Umm... best present ever! It's so useful and I can already imagine the numerous possibilities from the little gadget.

Anyways, these come from Bake at 350, who decorated them way better than I ever could. I've had them bookmarked for a while, but I just haven't gotten around to making them. Plus, roll & cut out cookies seem to scare me a bit because of how much effort they take. These, however, rolled and cut with ease. They held their shape and were sturdy after baking. Absolutely perfect! They're a great alternative to sugar cookies-- give them a shot! I would definitely recommend making some royal frosting to go with it, though.

• 3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1/2 c light brown sugar (packed)
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and spices, set aside.
3. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix until well-blended.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially the bottom.
   
5. Roll on a floured surface and cut into shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on the size of your cutter. Let sit a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.