Carmelitas

We've visited Barnes and Nobles twice now just to get their huge chocolate chunk cookie. About to go again last night, but instead made these. You have to let them cool so they aren't a gooey mess, but they are yummy when warm with ice cream. They are much better the next day though, when completely cooled off.

I've seen them on Pinterest and their picture (not mine) looks mouth watering. I love caramel.

I like how easy these were to make. I LOVE oats in chocolate chip cookies. And I like the crumbly texture, but I think I prefer to cream the butter and sugar first to get a more soft, chewy cookie texture.

Carmelitas

Recipe from The Baker Upstairs via Lulu the Baker

Caramel

32 caramel squares, unwrapped or 1 1/4 cups caramel bits (in baking section)

1/2 cup heavy cream

Cookie Crisp

3/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Combine caramels and cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until completely smooth; set aside. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and baking soda. Pat half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of an 8x8" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Pour caramel mixture over chocolate chips. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.

Sweet Potato Cake with Toasted Marshmallow Filling, Candied Pecans, and Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Sweetapolita has so many beautiful cakes, you really should see her pictures. She calls this Autumn Delight Cake, and it really is. I was going to save this recipe for the fall but I knew this one would make Maryam happy. This is her second celebratory cake. She landed her first job, only two days after her interview. I figured sweet potato cake would make this soon-to-be dietitian jump for joy. 

The recipe calls for 3 large sweet potatoes, weighing 900 grams total. I went ahead and weighed my potatoes to find I only needed two large sweet potatoes. If you don't have a scale to weight them, my first potato was 8 inches long x 2 inches wide and the other was 7 inches long x 3 inches wide. Good thing Maryam was around to help cook those sweet potatoes in the microwave. I'll write all the adaptions in the recipe below.

I was excited for the toasted marshmallow filling. It was my favorite component of the cake.

At first I was disappointed that the toasted marshmallows hinder the creaminess of the filling, but don't worry. You don't even notice the little brown bits when you eat it with cake.

The recipe says to cook the pecans for 15 minutes. That is ridiculous. After 4 minutes (on low heat!) I nearly burnt my pecans. Cook them on low just until the sugar dissolves, literally 2-3 minutes and remove from the pan. Nuts cook quickly when heated, and they taste much better when they aren't too browned.

After my cake was stacked, I put it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. It's easier to frost because the cake is alittle firmer and the crumbs don't get everywhere. 

I appreciate how the buttercream recipe made plenty to frost the sides and bottom. Plenty. To the point that I put too much.

The recipe calls for alot of crystalized ginger in the cake, and I know that stuff is strong. So I decided not to add it and just used a tad bit more ground ginger. The spices in the cake all came out great.

Overall, I would make this cake again, except I was not expecting it to be so sweet. Even though it was delicious, I have to recommend to half the marshmallow filling. I love the beautiful white stripe which makes the cake stand out, but it just came out too sweet! 

Also, I would half the amount of nuts. I think less is more. It's more delightful to get a nut every now and then, rather than with each bite.

Lastly, the buttercream. TOO. MUCH. BUTTER. I adore swiss meringue buttercream and I loved the brown sugar flavor of this one, but that third stick of butter just ruined it. I should have known. Its been a while since I made it. I'm thinking half the amount of butter and it would have been great.

Sweet Potato Cake with Toasted Marshmallow Filling, Candied Pecans, and Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Buttercream

Adapted from Sweetapolita

Sweet Potato Cake

2 large sweet potatoes (about 900 g)

2 cups (400 g) sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1-1/4 cups (315 ml) sunflower oil (or vegetable, safflower, canola oil)

2 cups (230 g) cake flour

1 tablespoon (7 g) ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder

1 teaspoon (7 g) salt

1 teaspoon (3 g) ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon (3 g) ground ginger

1 tablespoon (15 ml) rum extract

2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans, dust with flour, tap out excess and set aside.

Peel and dice the sweet potatoes into cubes and place in a microwave-safe bowl and cover. Microwave until they are tender (about 8-10 minutes). Mash with a fork into a coarse puree.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients together (cake flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and ground ginger) and mix until blended. Transfer to another bowl and set aside. 

Beat the sugar and eggs together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the oil and beat on medium until combined. Add the cooled sweet potato puree and mix until combined. Slowly add dry ingredients. Mix in rum extract and vanilla. 

Evenly distribute batter into the prepared pans (weigh them if possible with digital kitchen scale), smooth with a small offset palette knife and place in the center of the middle rack of the oven, about 2 inches apart. Bake until a knife or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.

Let pans cool on a wire rack 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack and cool them completely.

Candied Pecans

2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons (24 g) brown sugar

1 cup (100 g) pecan pieces

Directions

Melt the butter in a small pan. Mix in brown sugar, and add the pecans. Toss to coat.

Cook on low heat for about 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Be sure to watch carefully so they don’t burn. Do not brown nuts, remove from heat as soon as sugar looks dissolved. Turn out onto parchment paper or aluminum foil and let cool for 5 minutes; break apart into smaller pieces.

Toasted Marshmallow Filling

16 large white marshmallows

1 cup (125 g) icing sugar (confectioners' or powdered), sifted

1 cup butter (227 g)(2 sticks), at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) pure vanilla extract

1 jar (213 g) marshmallow cream (such as Marshmallow Fluff)

Directions

Turn on oven broiler and allow to come to full heat. Make sure the oven rack is placed at the top shelf, near the top heating element. Place marshmallows on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place on top rack of oven, and broil marshmallows until nice and brown on top, about 60 seconds. Remove pan from oven and gently turn the marshmallows over, and broil until they are golden brown. (Be sure to keep an eye on them--they burn very quickly.)

In an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine butter and icing sugar on low until blended, about 1 minute. Add vanilla and mix on med-high for about 3 minutes. Add marshmallow cream and toasted marshmallows, and mix on lowest setting for about 1 minute.

Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Swiss Meringue Buttercream

5 large egg whites (150 g)

1-1/4 cups (250 g) light brown sugar

3/4 cups (1.5 sticks)(170 g) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes

2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt

a few pinches of cinnamon, to taste

Directions

Clean the bowl of your electric mixer very well, with plenty of soap suds, to be sure to remove any trace of grease. When clean and dry, add egg whites and sugar, and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly but gently, until temperature reaches 160°F, or if you don't have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot.

With whisk attachment of mixer, begin to whip until the meringue is thick, glossy, and the bottom of the bowl feels neutral to the touch (this can take 5-10 minutes). Don't begin adding butter until the bottom of the bowl feels neutral, and not warm.

Switch over to paddle attachment and, with mixer on low speed, add softened butter cubes, one at a time, until incorporated, and mix until it has reached a silky smooth texture (if curdles, keep mixing and it will come back to smooth). If mixture is too runny, refrigerate for about 15 minutes and continue mixing with paddle attachment until it comes together. Add vanilla and salt, continuing to beat on low speed until well combined. Add cinnamon to taste and blend.

Triple Layer Oreo Cake

Congratulations Maryam! She picked this celebratory cake from my pinterest board for her graduation day.

If you don't eat ANY Oreos, you only need to buy one package to make this whole cake. But, that is impossible, so buy two.

I adapted the recipe slightly. I added less coffee to the chocolate cake, which I am glad because you can taste just a hint of coffee with only 1/3 cup and I think any more would have been too much. I also omitted the coffee flavor in the frosting.

Also, I added mini chocolate chips to the chocolate cake layers instead of more Oreos, to give a more contrast flavor from the center layer. The chocolate chips also make the cake moist.

I doubled the whipped cream mixture so I can pipe dollops of oreo mousse on top of the cake. All of my adaptations are written below, so make my version. It was delicious, but to make it complete perfection, I would probably go with a different oreo white cake recipe. This one was a tad bit "bready". 

Triple Layer Oreo Cake

Adapted from Beantown Baker

Oreo Cake

1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup + 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp sugar

2 egg whites, at room temperature

12 whole Oreos, cut into quarters

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl cream the butter until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the milk and vanilla and mix to combine.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to butter mixture. Mix until integrated. Stir in sugar. With an electric mixer on low speed, beat for 30 seconds. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes. Add the egg whites. Beat for 2 more minutes. Stir in the quartered cookies.

Bake for 25-30 min. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 cups flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cups cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 cup buttermilk, shaken

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. If you would like, line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans to make the cake come out of the pan easier (I didn't do this).

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.

In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Oreo Cream Filling

8 ounces softened cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

2 cups heavy whipping cream

16 whole Oreos, cut into quarters
5 Oreos, with cream filling removed from center

Directions

Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in 1/2 cup whipping cream until smooth. Add the rest of the cream and beat until it has the consistency of whipped cream (don’t overmix).

Reserve half of mixture to use to decorate the top of the cake. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Stir in the Oreo chunks (16 whole oreos, quartered) into the remaining whipped cream mixture. Spread half of filling on top of the first layer of chocolate cake. Stack the Oreo white cake layer on top, and then spread the remaining half of filling on top. Finish by stacking the last chocolate cake layer on top.

Place 5 Oreos (with cream filling removed) into a blender and pulse into crumbs. Mix with reserved whipped cream for the oreo mousse on top of cake. Return to refrigerator until ready to use.

Chocolate Frosting

6 ounces (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

5 whole Oreos (for garnish on top of cake)

Directions

Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes.

Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until whipped and fluffy. Frost top and sides of cake.

Pipe the reserved oreo cream mousse into 10 dollops on top of cake. Garnish with 5 Oreos.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

^Yes, that is my picture. Have you ever seen such a beautiful cupcake?

I asked Naven to look at my pinterest board and pick something I should make. I'm so glad she picked these. 

If you adore cookie dough, this will probably be the best cupcake you have ever eaten.

Dropping cookie dough into chocolate cake batter. Yes, these were fun to make.

After they were baked and cooled, I stored all the cupcakes in a lid-tight container overnight. They get so moist this way.

The recipe makes 12 cupcakes. I doubled the cookie dough recipe so that I can make my own garnish for the top.

At first I was worried about the frosting. Brown sugar is gritty. But after eating it on top of the cupcake, it was perfect and fit into the whole cookie dough theme.

I was also worried that the cookie dough in the center would either be too soft and gooey or bake up dry and crumbly. Yet again, it came out perfect. Baked just enough to keep it's shape but still taste like cookie dough.

You must use mini chocolate chips! The small size evenly distributes the sweetness, and they turn soft.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Adapted from Recipe Girl
12 cupcakes

Cookie dough filling (*may want to double recipe)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips


Directions

*You may want to double the recipe if you want to bake mini cookies to garnish the cupcakes. Or you could buy Mini Chips Ahoy Cookies to garnish.

Filling: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to stir together the butter, sugars, milk and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips. Freeze for 30 minutes, or until the cookie dough is firm. Make the cake batter in the meantime. When ready, scoop out the cookie dough by the tablespoon and roll into a ball.

*Cookies for garnish: Roll cookie dough into teaspoon size balls and then press them down to about 1/4 inch thick because they do not spread out much while baking. Bake the cookies at 375 degrees F for 4-5 minutes. Do not over bake.

Chocolate Cake

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.

Place the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Blend to combine. Add the water, oil, egg and vanilla. Blend to combine, scraping down the sides as needed a couple of times until all is well mixed. Divide the batter between the 12 cupcake liners.

Drop a ball of chocolate chip cookie dough into the center of each cupcake.

Bake the cupcakes for 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake portion of the cupcake (not tested through the center where the dough is), comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes completely before adding the frosting.

Cookie Dough Frosting

3 sticks salted butter
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mini chocolate chips (garnish)
12 mini Chips Ahoy cookies (optional garnish)

Directions:

This amount will generously frost 12 cupcakes (as seen in pictures). You could half the recipe if you aren't into that much frosting.

In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy. Mix in the flour, milk and vanilla and continue to mix until all is well combined.

Frost cupcakes with a knife or scoop the frosting into a piping bag and pipe it on decoratively. Sprinkle mini chips on top and garnish with a small chocolate chip cookie.

Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

Yes, I found these on pinterest. Everyone really liked them but they weren't my favorite. I think they would have been better if I had used peanut butter M&M's because there is peanut butter in the dough. I think it would have given them more flavor. Or I think I would have liked these if I made regular chocolate chip cookies (maybe use mini chocolate chips) and then use the original M&M's (no peanut butter at all).

Either way, that would make for some real good cookies!

Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

Recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened to room temperature*
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups peanut butter M&Ms


Directions:

In a large bowl, using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed. Mix in the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla (in that order). Slowly mix in the baking soda and flour. Do not overmix. Fold in the M&Ms with a wooden spoon. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drop chilled dough by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet or silicone baking mat. I pressed a few M&Ms on top of the dough balls. Press the balls down (only slightly) since they won't spread much while baking. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Cookies will be soft and may appear undone. They will firm up as they cool.

Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Note

You may use unsalted butter in this recipe. If so, add 1/4 tsp salt with the flour.

M&M Rice Krispie Treats

So I made peanut butter cookies with M&M's, which are currently sitting in the freezer. They are intended purely for guests. We'll see how long that lasts. But no really, I want to be able to serve a batch of homemade cookies if I didn't have time to make something else. So they are not for me.

These however...are for me. And they are a result of, "what else should I do with M&Ms?" I can't remember the last time I've eaten these. The original recipe calls for a 10 oz. bag of marshmallows. My halal marshmallows come in a 9 oz. bag so I only used 5 cups of rice krispies. Also, I just wanted mine to be slightly more gooey (because the marshmallow is my favorite part). And I added 2 cups M&M's but I'd say you should go with 1 1/2 cups for a more balanced breakfast. ;) 

Strawberry Pie Parfaits

You know how I mentioned how good that strawberry pie was?

Yeah, well, I transformed that goodness into miniature parfait size.

I couldn't resist, this recipe is so easy to throw together and I just wanted to try it with strawberry pie filling.

I realized later that I had pinned this 10 weeks ago. They adapted the recipe the same way. Bakers think alike.

I halved the recipe and it made 3 servings in these 6 ounce glasses.

I have to admit, I am now sick of strawberry cream pie and I won't make it again. 

But if you want to impress your friends, these cute little parfaits are the way to go!

And I really can't say which is better, fresh strawberries or the pie filling.

I prefer fresh strawberries if you make this in the pie form, but the canned pie filling is better for parfaits!

Strawberry Pie Parfaits

Adapted from Just Putzing Around the Kitchen
Yield: 3 servings (6 ounce glass)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (I crush them using a blender)
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 (8 ounce) block of cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup of strawberry pie filling

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until a crumbly, moist mixture forms.
2. Whip the heavy cream using an electric mixture and beat until your cream holds firm peaks. Set aside.
3. Mix cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar with electric mixture until smooth and creamy.
4. Mix about 1/3 of the whipped cream into your cream cheese mixture to lighten it.
5. Add the rest of the whipped cream by gently folding until evenly incorporated and smooth.
6. Layer graham cracker crumbs, cream, and strawberry filling in a 6 ounce glass.
7. Fridge for a few hours to allow the creamy filling to firm up.
8. Enjoy!

Sweet Strawberry Cream Pie

Everyone loved the strawberry pie. So I made it again. I don't do that too often, so it is that good.

This time, I sweetened the strawberries with some sugar, to make them juicy and syrupy.

Sweet Strawberry Cream Pie

Adapted from Just Putzing Around the Kitchen

Crust:

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I crush them using a blender)
6 tbsp butter, melted

Directions:

(First do step #1 for the filling to give the strawberries time to sweeten with the sugar)

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a small bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until a crumbly, moist mixture forms.
Gently spread out the crumbs to evenly coat the bottom and sides of a pie dish. Then, firmly press the crumbs down. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.

Filling:

2 (8 ounce) blocks of cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups heavy cream
2/3 cups sugar + 5 tablespoons sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 pints strawberries, sliced into thirds

Directions:

1. Mix 5 tablespoons sugar with sliced strawberries in a bowl and set aside.
2. Whip the heavy cream using an electric mixture and beat until your cream holds firm peaks. Set aside.
3. Mix cream cheese, vanilla, and 2/3 cup sugar with electric mixture until smooth and creamy.
4. Mix about 1/3 of the whipped cream into your cream cheese mixture to lighten it.
5. Add the rest of the whipped cream by gently folding until evenly incorporated and smooth.
6. Spoon filling into your cooled pie crust, and spread it out in an even layer.
7. Spoon sliced strawberries on top of the cream.
8. Optional: melt chocolate + 1 tbsp shortening (or cream), and stir until smooth and liquidy.
9. Drizzle melted chocolate over the top of the strawberries.
10. Stick the pie in the fridge for a few hours to allow the creamy filling to firm up.
11. Slice and serve immediately. Enjoy!