Brown Sugar Cinnamon Topped Coffee Cake with Vanilla Glaze

I love brunch. Egg dishes of all kinds, fruits, bacon, sausage, muffins, bagels, bread...you name it - I love it. But brunch wouldn't be brunch without coffee cake, right?

Right.

So, today I'm sharing with you my new favorite version of coffee cake: brown sugar cinnamon topped coffee cake with vanilla glaze.

Oh boy.

I made this coffee cake this past weekend for brunch with friends. Thankfully, it was a hit! 

The cake and glaze recipes are both from Averie Cooks. The original glaze recipe that goes with the brown sugar cinnamon coffee cake was a cream cheese glaze...but I decided to use Averie's buttery vanilla glaze instead. She uses that for her blueberry and jam buttermilk coffee cake (another recipe I'd love to try sometime!).

Ingredients:

For the brown sugar topping:

-1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

-1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

-3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

-1 tsp. cinnamon

For the cake:

-1 cup all-purpose flour

-3/4 cup granulated sugar

-2 tsp. baking powder

-1 Tbsp. cinnamon (not a typo - yes, 1 TABLEspoon :))

-1 tsp. ground nutmeg

-pinch of salt

-1 large egg

-1/2 cup buttermilk*

-1/3 cup Greek yogurt

-3 Tbsp. canola or vegetable oil

-2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the glaze:

-1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

-1 cup confectioners' sugar (sifted)

-3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 or 9x9 pan with cooking spray and set aside. For the brown sugar topping, combine all four ingredients in a small bowl, mixing with a fork until crumbly (some lumps will remain and that's okay).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, yogurt, oil, and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry, stirring with a spoon or spatula until just combined; do not overmix. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar topping evenly over top of the cake batter. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove cake and place on cooling rack, cooling for at least 30 minutes before glazing.

For the glaze, melt the butter. To start, add about 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and the vanilla, and whisk to combine. Continue to add the remaining sugar and whisk until desired consistency is reached. If too thick, thin out by adding milk or cream, one half teaspoon at a time. Drizzle glaze over cake just before serving. If not serving entire cake immediately, only drizzle the glaze over the portion you are serving, and wait to drizzle the rest until closer to the time it will be eaten. If have any cake leftover with the glaze on it, store in the fridge. Makes 9 servings.

*For the buttermilk, if you don't have regular buttermilk, you can make your own with a few different methods:

Combine milk and lemon juice or combine milk and white vinegar.

Use buttermilk powder; add the powder with the dry ingredients and the water with the wet ingredients.

So if you don't have actual buttermilk on hand, have no fear! You have a few other alternatives.

Several months ago, I bought King Arthur Flour's dried buttermilk powder, and I love it. It has completely solved my problem that occurs when I buy a quart of buttermilk when really all I need is a cup...and then if I don't have time to bake something else, the buttermilk goes to waste. :(  Anyone else had that problem?! Powdered buttermilk is definitely a great solution! If you bake a lot, I highly recommend it.

Back to this cake though...  It's full of flavor, moist, sweet but not too sweet, and so, so easy to make.

This cake would make an excellent addition to any brunch table. Or, it would be a wonderful, simple breakfast on a lazy weekend morning. Served with a hot cup of coffee, I'd call this coffee cake "perfection." :)

Sweet Potato Carrot Quinoa Soup

 
I've made this soup four times now. Finally, I am blogging about it and sharing it with you all. 'Bout time, I'd say! This soup is a real winner. It's easy, healthy, and filling...and oh-so-perfect for this brutal cold, snowy winter we're having!

The recipe is from Cookin' Canuck, a delightful blog with beautiful photography. If you want to see really lovely photos of this soup, check out her blog post about it!

Since I've made this a few times now, I've adapted the recipe slightly. The ingredients below are what I typically use when I make it. If you decide to make this, be sure to read the recipe through all the way first. You'll want to keep in mind that the recipe calls for a cup of cooked quinoa. So, you could cook the quinoa as the sweet potatoes are roasting, or if you have leftover quinoa from another meal, keep it and use it for this soup!

Ingredients:

-3 medium sweet potatoes

-1/2 large onion (or 1 medium), diced

-3 or 4 large carrots, diced

-2 garlic cloves, minced

-32 oz. chicken or vegetable stock (low sodium)

-1 cup water

-salt and pepper, to taste

-3/4 tsp. dried herbs de provence

-1 to 1 and 1/2 cups cooked quinoa

-shredded or grated cheese (your choice) to garnish, if desired

-pumpkin seeds to garnish, if desired

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash sweet potatoes and peel if desired (I do not peel them because I like the skin). Dice into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes. Do the same with the carrots (although I do peel my carrots). Place both sweet potatoes and carrots on large baking sheet and drizzle with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes.

With about 5 to 10 minutes remaining in the roast time for the sweet potatoes, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic until tender. Add the potatoes and carrots to the pot, and slowly pour in chicken broth, water, and herbs de provence. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer the mixture for 15 to 20 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender. If using a hand blender, blend soup right in the pot until vegetables are pureed. If using a regular blender, add soup to the blender but let it cool for 10 or 15 minutes before blending to puree it. If you find the soup to be too thick for your liking, add a little bit of water at a time and continue to blend. Return soup to pot over low heat and stir in cooked quinoa. Taste, and add salt and pepper, if desired.

When ready to serve, ladle soup into bowls and top with shredded (or grated) cheese and/or pumpkin seeds, if desired. Serve with your favorite crackers, bread, or just have the soup by itself! Makes 4 to 6 servings.

If you have time, I bet it would be yummy to toast your pumpkin seeds a bit too! We like to top our soup with both cheese and pumpkin seeds. :)

Enjoy!

Spinach, Broccoli, Mushroom, and Ricotta Calzones

I have another delicious dinner recipe for you! The last one I shared was my crock pot sweet potato beef chili (in case you missed it, you should probably check it out ;)), and now I have a calzone recipe for you. 

We made these calzones last week on a night when our weekly meal plan said "pizza or calzones." Well, we haven't made calzones in quite some time, so they won out! And I'm glad they did.

The recipe I semi-followed is from Two Peas and Their Pod for kale, mushroom, and ricotta calzones. I ended up adding a couple more veggies to the mix when I made these, but in general, I followed their technique for the most part. It's definitely a versatile recipe. Add whatever vegetables (and perhaps meat?) that you and your family like! The ingredients below are roughly what we added when we made our calzones.

Ingredients:

-1 pound fresh pizza dough (homemade or store bought)

-1 Tbsp. olive oil, plus additional for brushing

-1/2 yellow onion, diced

-2 garlic cloves, minced

-2 cups fresh baby spinach

-8 oz. sliced white mushrooms

-1/2 large red pepper, diced

-1 small head broccoli, florets cut in halves

-1 cup ricotta cheese

-1 cup shredded three-cheese blend (asiago, fontina, parmesan)*

-1/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese

-1/2 tsp. dried herbs de provence

-1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

-small pinch crushed red pepper flakes

-all-purpose flour for rolling pizza dough

-marinara/tomato sauce or diced tomatoes, for dipping

Instructions:

Make sure pizza dough is already at room temperature. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. For the calzone filling, saute olive oil and diced onion over medium heat on stove, 3 to 4 minutes. Add minced garlic. Add the mushrooms, red pepper, and broccoli, sauteing for 5 to 7 more minutes. Add the spinach and cover pan; cook for 2 more minutes or until spinach is wilted. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, shredded cheese, and pecorino romano. Stir in the vegetable mixture, and then add all the spices.

Divide the dough into four equal portions and shape each portion into a ball. On your workspace, sprinkle flour. Roll each ball of dough out into a circle or oval, about 7 inches in diameter (just do the best you can with this!). Lightly brush the edges of each circle with water. Place desired amount (about 1/2 to 2/3 cup) of cheese/vegetable mixture on half of each circle, leaving an inch around the border. Gently fold the dough over so the edges meet, and press down around the edges with your fingers or a fork. Pierce the top of each calzone with a fork, and brush the top of each with a little extra olive oil. Repeat until the filling is used up.

Bake calzones for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for about 5 minutes before serving with warmed marinara/tomato sauce or diced tomatoes for dipping.

For dough, we used Whole Foods' whole wheat dough, which we love. We also love their multigrain dough, but they were all out when I went to buy it. Use whichever dough is your favorite - store bought or homemade! And you can certainly use your own favorite types of cheeses as well. The original recipe calls for shredded mozzarella, but we used a three-cheese blend that we buy at Whole Foods all the time. I do think that the ricotta is a necessary type to add to the calzones though. It made the calzones feel much more authentic to me for some reason...

Also, I did not do the best job ever of shaping the pizza dough to be as thin as I would have liked. As you can see in the pictures, the edges of the dough were a bit thick in spots. As I said above though, just do the best you can with your dough. These calzones will taste excellent, no matter the thickness of your dough! Pizza dough is pretty great in any size, shape, or form, in my opinion!

Adding some marinara sauce for dipping the calzones is a great idea. The reason I used diced tomatoes for dipping is simply because we had some leftover from a different dish we'd made earlier in the week. We definitely liked the addition of some tomato "sauce" for dipping and would highly recommend it. Although, as you can see from the photos, we didn't really dip...we put the tomatoes on top of our calzones... You get the idea though. Tomato "sauce" + calzones = a good thing. :)

Such an easy weeknight meal! We served these with side salads and were completely satisfied. I can't wait to make them again!

Soft and Chewy Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cookies

When I was a kid, I used to loooove brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts. I mean, LOVE. Although my pop tart eating days are long gone (I can't even remember the last time I ate one), I still adore the flavors of brown sugar and cinnamon together, especially when they're in a homemade baked goodie. :)

This recipe for brown sugar cinnamon cookies is from Sally's Baking Addiction. I've made several of her recipes before, as you may know, and they are always wonderful!

Ingredients:

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-1 tsp. baking soda

-1 and 1/2 tsp. cornstarch

-1 tsp. ground cinnamon

-1/4 tsp. salt

-3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

-1 and 1/4 cups dark brown sugar (light brown is okay)

-1 large egg, room temperature

-2 tsp. vanilla extract

-1/3 cup granulated sugar (for rolling)

-3/4 to 1 cup cinnamon baking chips (optional)

Instructions:

Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter and brown sugar until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the egg, followed by the vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix together with a spatula or large spoon. If using, mix in the cinnamon chips. The dough will be soft and thick. Cover the dough and chill for 2 hours or overnight (or up to 3 days). You must chill the dough; do not skip this!

Take the dough out of the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for 10 or 15 minutes if you've had it chilling for 2 hours or more. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Pour granulated sugar into a shallow bowl. Take 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball, and then roll in the sugar until coated. Place on cookie sheet. Continue until all the dough is used. Bake cookies for 8 to 9 minutes; remove from oven and press down very slightly with the back of a spoon or your fingers (this will help create a crinkle on top of your cookie). Place back into the oven for 1 to 2 more minutes. The cookies might look slightly underdone, but that's okay. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheets for 10 minutes before placing on cooling racks to cool completely. Store in airtight container. Cookies will keep for 7 days. Makes about 20 to 24 cookies.

These cookies are SO soft and chewy! Oh my goodness. And they practically melt in your mouth too. I think we finished these within 4 days, and by the fourth day, they were still super soft! 

A few notes for you if you make these...  The 3/4 to 1 cup of cinnamon chips is the amount I'd recommend for the entire batch of dough (Sally's original recipe did not call for the chips). I, however, made half of my cookie dough without the cinnamon chips and half with them, so I used closer to 1/2 or 2/3 cup, probably. Also, the original recipe only calls for 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, but Sally recommends upping the amount to 1 tsp. if you like cinnamon. And since I love cinnamon, I added a whole teaspoon. Obvi. ;)

Finally, my cookies turned out to look quite a bit flatter than Sally's, and I can't figure out why that might be! I chilled the dough for a day and a half before baking it, so I don't think it's that. Hmmmm. Anyone have any thoughts for me??

 

Oh, and I highly recommend getting your hands on King Arthur Flour's Sparkling White Sugar. Love the stuff! I use it whenever I make cookies or goodies that are rolled in sugar. The bigger granules are awesome. And they sparkle too. What's not to love? :)

If you're snowed in this weekend or just don't want to go outside because it's soooo cooooold, I suggest you stay inside to bake these cookies. You'll be glad you did!

Crock Pot Sweet Potato Turkey (or Beef) Chili and Garlic Cheddar Beer Biscuits

Are you experiencing the same frigid winter temperatures that we're experiencing in Boston (aka Polar Vortex 2)? If so, this slow cooker chili is for you! Side note: as I just typed, "slow cooker," I actually typed "cookie" instead of cooker. Guess cookies are always on my mind. :)

Aaaanyway, back to the slow COOKER chili. This recipe is a breeze! I made it twice in December but am only now getting around to blogging about it. I wanted to make sure to share it with you while there is still plenty of winter weather ahead of us. And in New England, we have at least two more months of it. ;)

This recipe is from a blog, Catz in the Kitchen. This is a great recipe to enjoy on a weekend day when you're busy running errands or getting household chores done...or, on a weekday when you've had a long day of work and don't have the time to cook dinner! Crock pots are seriously the best, aren't they?

Ingredients:

-1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes

-1 can (14 oz.) diced tomatoes, with liquid

-1 can (15 oz.) black beans, with liquid

-1 can (15 oz.) kidney beans, with liquid

-2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces

-1 medium onion, chopped finely

-2 garlic cloves, minced

-1 lb. ground turkey or beef, browned

-2 Tbsp. chili powder

-1 Tbsp. ground cumin

-2 tsp. smoked paprika

-1 Tbsp. brown sugar

-1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions:

In a medium-large skillet, brown the turkey or beef until cooked through. Pour into crock pot (a 5 or 6 qt. crock pot will do). Add the rest of the ingredients in the crock pot and stir until well combined. Place lid on crock pot and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. The chili will be done when the sweet potatoes are soft and fork tender. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

I served this chili with some amaaazing garlic cheddar beer biscuits. Although these biscuits can't be made in the crock pot (darn!), they are incredibly easy and pair very well with this dish. So if you have the time, I highly suggest whipping up a batch of these biscuits to enjoy with this warm, hearty chili.

The biscuit recipe is from Bake Your Day.

Ingredients:

-2 cups self-rising flour*

-1 tsp. garlic powder

-1 tsp. baking soda

-1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, chilled

-4 oz. sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded

-8 oz. beer (pick your favorite!)**

-4 Tbsp. butter

-2 tsp. garlic powder

*Note: If you don't have self-rising flour, don't worry! You can make your own; that's what I did. Just follow this method from King Arthur flour of mixing all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt.

**Also, if you prefer not to use beer, you can substitute milk.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the self-rising flour, 1 tsp. garlic powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut in the chilled butter until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Stir in the cheese until well incorporated, followed by the beer.

Turn the mixture out onto a well-floured surface and knead for about 1 minute or until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Form into a round ball and roll or pat it down into a large circle about 1/2-inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut dough into biscuits, and place them onto prepared baking sheets. Roll out scraps of dough again, and continue forming into biscuits until all dough is used.

Melt the additional 4 tablespoons of butter, and mix in the two teaspoons of garlic powder with the butter. Using a pastry brush, give each biscuit a generous coating of the garlic butter. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes or until edges are lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and serve warm biscuits with chili.

We LOVED these biscuits. They were soft, flakey, and full of wonderful flavors. A perfect accompaniment to the delicious chili! 

Please, please make this chili and these biscuits. You won't regret it! It's a meal your whole family will love, and it will both fill and warm you up on a cold winter's night. I promise. :)

Cookie Butter White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Biscoff. Cookie Butter. Speculoos. I talked about this amazing product last summer on the blog when I made my chocolate and cinnamon chip cookie butter cookies. Do you remember? Well, if not, you should go back and take a look at that post. I go on and on and on about how much I love cookie butter. If you don't yet know it, you need (noticed how I bolded, italicized, and underlined that? :)) to get to know it! 

This recipe is adapted from the ever wonderful, Sally's Baking Addiction. I've made several of Sally's recipes thus far, and they're always excellent!

Ingredients:

-3/4 cup all-purpose flour

-1/4 tsp. salt

-1/2 tsp. baking soda

-1/2 tsp. baking powder

-1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

-3/4 cup dark (or light) brown sugar

-1 large egg

-1/2 cup cookie butter/Biscoff/speculoos spread (creamy or crunchy)

-2 tsp. vanilla extract

-2 cups quick oats (do not use regular oats)

-1 and 1/4 cups white chocolate chips or chunks 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stove and let cool slightly. In the meantime, whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together in a large bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until no lumps remain. Whisk in the egg, followed by the cookie butter spread, until combined. Finally, whisk in the vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir together with a spatula. Fold in the oats and 1 cup of the white chocolate chips. The dough will be thick and heavy.

Form dough into balls (about 2 to 3 Tbsp. of dough each), and place on cookie sheets, two inches apart. Bake cookies for 11 to 12 minutes. The cookies will look soft and slightly underbaked; this is okay, as they will bake a little more while on the cookie sheets. If desired, press down the cookies slightly to flatten them out (I did not do this). Also, if desired, press remaining 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips/chunks into top of cookies (also, I did not do this step). Allow cookies to cool for 10 minutes on cookie sheets before removing to cool completely on cooling racks. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week. Makes 18 to 20 cookies.

These cookies are sweet but not overly so. The white chocolate chips add to the sweetness. And the cookie butter flavor lends a nice change of flavor from a more traditional cookie. The cookies have some great gingerbread and cinnamon flavor notes. And the oats? Well, they make these a healthy cookie, of course! ;)

I loved the texture of these cookies, too. Chewy and airy with an ever so slight crunch around the edges. Cookie texture perfection!

If you end up trying these cookies, be sure to use quick, not regular oats. But what if you only have regular oats in your pantry? No problem! Pulse those regular oats a few times in your food processor, and voila, you'll have yourself quick oats. As Sally notes in the original blog post, the finer quick oats act more like a flour in this recipe and are important to the way this dough comes together; regular oats won't allow the dough to bind together as it should.

Cookie Butter. Go get yourself some. ASAP.

But a warning if you have this in your house: you may want to eat it by the spoonful.

Don't say I didn't warn you!!

Just realized it's been 17 days since my last post. OOPS! Hopefully I'll get back to posting once or twice a week again soon. In the meantime, hope everyone has been enjoying some delicious goodies in their own kitchens. :)

Chocolate Avocado Cookies

Chocolate avocado cookies? Yes! You read that right. The avocado in these cookies, along with some coconut oil, takes the place of the butter that you'd find in a traditional cookie recipe. So if you're looking for a slightly healthier option, definitely give these a try! And these cookies are also vegan - another added bonus. Although I do not eat vegan, I have a few friends who do, so it's always nice to have options for dessert recipes I can make for them. :)

This recipe is from Two Peas and Their Pod, an awesome blog.

Ingredients:

-1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

-1 tsp. baking powder

-1/2 tsp. sea salt

-2/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder

-1/4 cup coconut oil

-1/4 cup mashed avocado

-1/4 cup granulated sugar

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1/3 cup almond milk (or cow's milk - but they won't be vegan)

-1/2 cup chocolate chips (vegan ones, if desired)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder; set aside. In a stand mixer or with a hand-held electric mixer, beat the coconut oil, avocado, and both sugars together until creamy and smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, add half the flour mixture, followed by the milk. Add the remaining dry ingredients and incorporate until well-combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Place dough by the tablespoonful on prepared baking sheets, placing balls of dough about 2 inches apart. Slightly flatten the cookies with your hand or a spatula. Bake cookies for 10 minutes, or until set around the edges but still soft in the center. Let cookies sit on baking sheet for about 2 minutes before removing to cooling rack to cool completely. Makes about 20 cookies.

These cookies turned out to be very chocolatey, which I loved. And they were quite dense, chewy, and fudgey also. Score! A very good cookie. Definitely a keeper.

 I have to say though, that although you could not taste the avocado, I do think that if you were looking for a difference in these cookies, you might be able to detect that they don't have butter in them. But honestly, if you weren't trying to figure out what's different, I don't think you could tell! Also, you can't taste the coconut oil either in case you were wondering.

If one of your resolutions is to bake healthier...or to be more "daring" in your baking, then add this recipe to your list. Although I didn't make any official resolutions, in general I am trying to bake and cook more often with ingredients that are less familiar to me. Coconut oil is an ingredient I've been wanting to try but hadn't until recently. So far so good! I used it in this cookie recipe and in another homemade granola recipe I made last week also. I have a feeling coconut oil may become a staple in my kitchen! I've read so many great things about it and am glad I finally gave it a try.

Have a wonderful start to your week, all!

PS - To be sure you see my posts regularly, Follow my blog with Bloglovin! :)

2013: Year in Review

I thought it would be fun to do a brief Year in Review of What's Baking in the Barbershop?! for 2013. Many other blogs I follow have done this, and I always enjoy reading their year-end recaps. Sometimes bloggers share their most popular posts with readers, their own personal favorites, and various highlights from their own personal lives. I thought I'd follow suit and share a few in each of these categories!

First, a brief recap of the posts that were most popular with my readers this past year...

3-Ingredient Healthy Banana Oatmeal Banana Cookies

The post for these cookies ended up surpassing my chocolate chip graham cracker blondies as my most viewed post of all time!

Double Fudge Chocolate Cookies

Chocolate Almond Date Balls

Red Wine Buttercream Frosting

Peanut Butter Oat Granola Bars

Cinnamon Sugar Almonds

My own personal favorite recipes that I posted in 2013?

Well, a few are the same as what my readers liked! I was a huuuuge fan (and still am) of the chocolate almonds date balls and the peanut butter oat granola bars. And my other favs... 

Irish Soda Bread with Whiskey Soaked Raisins and Whiskey Butter Syrup

Homemade Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

Chocolate and Cinnamon Chip Cookie Butter Cookies

Cinnamon Chip Scones

And a couple other highlights from my year...

Going on a most amazing honeymoon to France and Belgium this summer with my husband! If you missed some of the pictures I shared, you can check out this post.

Celebrating our one year wedding anniversary in November. :)

We celebrated with a wonderful meal at Ten Tables in Jamaica Plain.

And finally, we sold our condo! That was definitely a big highlight. Although we are sad to leave the city, we are ready for a house in the 'burbs with more space. We are still house hunting (the Boston market right now is ridiculously tough for buying!), and thankfully, we are lucky enough to be staying with my in-laws in the meantime while we house hunt... We're really hoping that 2014 is our year to find our new home! :)

I also wanted to share a big thank you to my readers who continue to read my blog; you are very much appreciated! The blog "audience"is what keeps me going. Although I may not post as frequently as I used to, I still really love trying new recipes and sharing them with you in this little space. Thank you for being there for me!

And I wish everyone - all of you - the best year yet in 2014. :)

Chocolate Espresso Crinkle Cookies

The countdown is on! Fewer than 10 days until Christmas. Have you done your fair share of holiday baking already, or have you yet to start?! I have done some here and there, but I plan to do more. Thankfully, I've already made these awesome cookies with enough time to spare before Christmas to share them with you! If you're still looking for more Christmas cookie recipes to try, then stop looking. I've found one for you. ;) These chocolate espresso crinkle cookies are amazing.

The fabulous recipe is from Heather Christo.

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

-1 and 1/2 cups sugar

-2 eggs

-3 Tbsp. espresso, cooled

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

-2 tsp. baking powder

-1 tsp. salt

-1 to 2 cups powdered sugar (for rolling)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with a silpat or parchment paper. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the espresso. Mix everything together until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; add dry ingredients to the wet. Scoop dough by the tablespoonful, roll into balls, and then coat by rolling in powdered sugar. Place on cookie sheets, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies "crack" and are set. Let cool for a couple minutes before removing to cool completely on cooling rack. Store in airtight container. Makes about 30 cookies.

 I baked these the day after we got our first snowstorm of the season. It was a perfect way to spend a snowy afternoon!

We love these cookies. If you know someone who loves coffee and chocolate, definitely make these for them! They are soft, chewy, and full of flavor. And the espresso definitely kicks up the chocolateyness (yes, that's a word) a notch.

Also, a few notes about the recipe and method... I did use espresso, although my guess is you could try making these with regular coffee - just brew it strong! Also, I refrigerated my dough, only for 10 - 15 minutes or so, before rolling it into balls. It made it slightly easier to work with. That being said, it wasn't a very difficult dough to work with in the first place! So chilling is definitely not necessary (the original recipe does not instruct to chill the dough). And finally, I only needed about 1 cup of powdered sugar for rolling although the original recipe calls for 2 cups. So, I recommend starting out with just 1 cup so you don't "dirty" more powdered sugar than you have to. And finally, my cookies took closer to 11 or 12 minutes to bake, instead of 8 to 10 - so just keep an eye on yours. As we all know, baking times will vary with each oven!

Santa was eyeing these cookies... I think he'd like some left out for him on Christmas Eve. ;)

These are a perfect Christmas cookie, in my opinion! I hope you get the chance to make them this season. :)

Btw, apparently I'm into sharing recipes lately that involve rolling things in powdered sugar! In case you missed it, these rum balls I recently posted about would also make an excellent Christmas treat this season.

Rum Balls (No Bake)

Rum balls = holiday time. Wouldn't you agree? :)

Last year I made some deeelicious Bailey's balls, and boy, were they good! I think I made them three different times for various holiday-themed occasions, and they were a big hit every time. For the first holiday party that we attended this past weekend, I wanted to bring the Bailey's balls...but the blogger in me also wanted to try something new! I know all you other bloggers know what I mean... So, I made some Bailey's balls and I tried a new recipe for rum balls. Thankfully, they turned out quite well also!

And these rum balls couldn't be any easier, just like the Bailey's balls. They come together in 15 minutes flat. Perfect for when you're rushing around at the last minute, getting ready for that holiday party this coming weekend but don't yet have a treat to bring. ;)

The recipe is adapted from this recipe from Taste of Home.

Ingredients:

-2 and 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (or vanilla wafer crumbs)

-1 cup ground pecans (or walnuts)

-1 cup confectioners' sugar

-2 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

-1/4 cup rum

-3 Tbsp. honey (or maple syrup)

-2 Tbsp. water

-additional graham cracker crumbs, ground pecans, or confectioners' sugar

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, ground pecans, confectioners' sugar, and cocoa. In a small bowl, combine the rum, honey (or maple syrup), and water. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well incorporated. Shape into 1-inch balls. Roll into the additional graham cracker crumbs, pecans, or confectioners' sugar to "garnish." Store in airtight container in fridge for a couple weeks. Makes about 2 dozen balls.

A few points to note...

The original recipe actually called for crumbs of vanilla wafers, not graham crackers. But graham crackers are what I had on hand, so that's what I used. I'm sure vanilla wafers would work just as well. Also, I used a combination of ground pecans and walnuts, as I didn't have enough pecans on hand. Again, this worked just fine! I love recipes like this where it's easy to improvise. And finally, the original recipe called for honey, but I tried maple syrup instead. Easy and delicious! So, keep in mind when you make these that you have some options. ;) For the rum, I used Captain Morgan's, as you can see in the photos.

You can definitely taste the rum in these! It wasn't too much though. It was juuuust right. They're just slightly chocolatey and sweet, and then that rum flavor comes through as well. And they're fun to eat besides! I also think the flavor of these is even more enhanced a day or two after you make them. So, if you have the time to make them ahead, definitely do that!

In need of other ideas of sweet treats to make this holiday season? Maybe to give to friends or coworkers? Or to bring as a host/hostess gift to a holiday party? Then check out these other recipes that have previously been on the blog. They're all fairly simple - perfect for this time of year when you might not have much extra time to spend in the kitchen!

Chocolate Covered Sea Salt Caramels

Cinnamon Sugar Almonds

Hershey Kiss Pretzel Bites

Bailey's Balls

Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

Chocolate Graham Toffee Treats

Cranberry White Chocolate Cinnamon Chip Bars