Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling: The Story of the Photogenically Unprepared Pies

Back from the beyond! And by "beyond" I mean, trips home and to California!

Good to see you too!

Once upon a time, it was the holiday season and I made a frack ton of holiday cookies for my house's holiday party and then for my dear friend, Sean's holiday party. Including these amazing amazing whoopie pies that got raved over, devoured, and were never seen again.

Screw the WORLD Brownies!

Here is the sentiment of the year thus far. I have committed to over a dozen things and am seriously thinking about adding one more doozey of a commitment despite the fact that this commitment to so many commitments is going to get me committed...

Things haven't been the easiest lately. Remember how in my last post I had a breakdown after biting off more than I could possibly ever chew? Good times. I know a lot of you have also been picked up in the whirl wind that is spring but, it seems as though things are always spinning out here in DC and I have come to realize I need to take some more (a lot more) me time and stop having this lovely pattern of "go go go!" and then a few days of zombie like exhaustion in which nothing gets done.

It's just funny because it's been an EXTREMELY fun 2012 because I have had these epic, jam packed plans, often with awesome visitors, every single weekend... but I feel so worn out on all sides I don't think I am even really projecting "happy" anymore. I feel like my tired is a living, breathing, thing that is just making me miserable to be around. I have noticed I am sharper than normal, more bitter wit than good natured. Also, due to the constant stream of amusing activities and then exhaustion, oh yeah, and MY NORMAL JAMMED PACK ROUTINE OF WORK/HOBBIES, I seem to have become a hoarder. 

Things an OCD personality does not handle the concept of very well: hoarding. But all these clutter piles from clue mystery dinner crafts, ball attending, brother visiting, friend touring, and lord knows what else need to go somewhere before I have time to clean them up so, I have two junk boxes and the hall closet hiding my shameful, shameful, mess/unfinished projects/unopened mail/that's not even mentioning the laundry and what has happened to 3 of my purses.

Somewhere hiding in the ever creeping mess is a 1 inch SD card that has the photos from my clue party. I really wanted to update this blog with THAT first (as it was my amazing valentines day project and I think you guys would appreciate it) but, they photos never got uploaded and now the memory card is missing.

That's right guys. I am in a living nightmare of mess and disaster and lost memory cards. This is how we have ended up here. With "screw the world" brownies. Check these babies out:

I agree. These should be illegal. You may be wondering how these brownies got their name. Well, I originally found them in a Taste of Home cook book and they had a boring name like "Peanut Butter Brownie Bars". While I GUESS that describes these bars, I don't think it even really begins to touch on the RIDICULOUS decadence of these treats. These are brownies, topped with peanut butter cups, topped with a rice crispies, all held together by a chocolate peanut crunch of joy.

No sane person would ever, ever, go into that much sugar, butter, and sheer peanut butter joy without taking a moment to pause and consider. But only the insane wouldn't respond with "Screw it, I'm having one!"

Thus the name of the treats was created. These brownies are to be made in truly dire circumstances. When you've been dumped, devastated, or have no idea what else to do but have a small pity party and savor. These can really knock your taste buds back in gear and make you feel the chemical reactive joys of chocolate and sugar. Plus the "Screw him, screw this, screw THE FRIGGIN WORLD, AT LEAST I HAVE THE MOST MAGICAL BROWNIES ON THE PLANET" thing can be very therapeutic.

Girl Scout Brownies

Once upon a time, I had a box of brownie mix, 3 boxes of girl scout cookies, and a dream. Below, you'll see the results of that dream.

Meet my Tag-along brownie cups. Baked in a cupcake pan, I simply poured some brownie batter (boxed, as I was pressed for time/lame), put a tag-along in, and then topped it with more batter.

Then, being truly sinful, I swirled it with peanut butter. 

Yes, it is indeed as delicious as you'd imagine. 

Here we have the Samoa version. Same idea, just this time I topped the combined cups with not peanut butter swirls but rather, coconut and caramel.

I know, I'm pure evil sometimes. But you know it's so so tempting...

This is a deconstructed Samoa brownie cup. Because  I couldn't help myself.

And then, finally, there were my favorites. The Thin Mint brownie cups. 

I didn't top these with anything but powdered sugar, and I did that after they were done baking.

But oh my gosh, so good. The minty crunch held within cakey brownie. You need to make these now.

Make any of these now. I promise you, you'll thank me. As the girl scout cookie orders start rolling in, you're going to want to keep this in mind :)

Spreadable Cookies

Once again, my borderline obsession with the cooking blog "The Pioneer Woman Cooks" makes itself known with this recipe being my contribution to the web this week.

How can you beat her recipes though? Lots of simple, delicious, butter friendly food, always made with fresh ingredients and a lot of applause from your friends and family when you share with them.

IF you share with them, that is. This recipe is one that could easily lead to hoarding.

This is a simple cookie recipe that Ree Drummond refers to as "spreads". Due to their "spread and smear on" nature, the name is self explanatory. Making them yourself, you'll see how shockingly easy they are to throw together too.

They are klutz proof! Even for me, queen of klutz.

My brother, Danny, had an affection for these cookies when I made them for him this past summer. The rest of the family loved them too but, Danny was their biggest fan :)

The other nice thing about these little guys is that the ingredients are things that I always seem to have around the house! Simple food that simply rocks.

Make and enjoy, my friends :)

Spreads:

Ingredients:

-1 cup Brown Sugar

-1 cup Margarine

-1 whole Egg

-2 cups Flour

-½ teaspoons Salt

-1 teaspoon Vanilla

-6 ounces, weight ( To 8 Ounces) Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together brown sugar and margarine. Add egg and mix together. Add flour, salt, and vanilla, and mix together well.
Spread dough onto cookie sheet to a thickness of 1/4 to 1/2-inch.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until slightly brown. At this point, pull out of the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top. Return to oven for 1 minute. Remove and spread melted chips over the top. Cut into squares.

Literal Snicker- Doodles

I am sometimes as dim as I am clumsy. 

These delicious cookies were made in a panicked moment when I resolved myself to giving up my dream to make the legendary Teen Wolf cookies I'd been planning to make later this month when I THOUGHT the post was due and to instead just make a cookie that WORKED for the movie review I was writing on the cult classic. I had the dates EXTREMELY wrong. My review was due on the 1st. Not the 31st. Start of the month, not the end of the month. Dim bulb in the Christmas tree, that is me.

Oh well. It worked out. Late but, it worked out. Here it is.

And they are delicious so, I guess it's a winning situation. These cookies are to be taken literally. As the movie Teen Wolf is to be taken at face value (it is a movie about a TEEN WOLF for those of you who were unaware), these cookies too are just what their name suggests. Snicker cookies. 

I took a recipe for snickerdoodles and omitted the cinnamon sugar aspects, instead buying 4 king size snicker bars. My awesome roommate chopped 3 of them up for me when I made a batch and had to overcome her need for them to be perfectly chopped for the greater need of her arms wanting to break off. She is a rock star like that sometimes.

I also sliced the 4th snicker bar into pieces I then placed on the dough and allowed to melt onto the cookies surface. I made some cookies with the melty chocolate slices on them and some without- both versions were great! It depends on what youre looking for but, they always tasted JUST like a snickers bar to me.

As you can see, some of my cookies were well done as I tried to figure out the exact timing for baking them. I landed somewhere around 10 minutes but, watch them carefully and make your own time. You want them golden so they stay crisp but chewy, not brittle.

Also, parchment paper is important. With all that chopped up caramel and nougat in the batter, save yourself the scraping of cookie sheets and the heart ache of ruined cookies. 

I think that's about all! Make and enjoy :)

Literal Snicker Doodles

1 c. soft shortening (I did one 1/2c shortening, 1/2c butter)
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 c. flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 snicker bars, chopped fine

1 snicker bar, optional, to slice as garnish

Mix shortening, sugar and eggs thoroughly. Mix flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Stir all ingredients. Form into balls about a spoonful in size, flatten gently onto a parchment papered cookie sheet. Keep them rather separated, a few of my own spread more then intended and some of them became twins. If garnishing with additional chocolate bar (which I say you SHOULD do), place a slice on the pancaked dough now. Bake at 400 for 8 to 12 minutes.

No Cupcake Pan? Make Carrot Cake Cookies!

These cookies are simple, delicious, and, as far as I can tell, extremely well received. The recipe is from my Aunt and, while the icing and cute little carrots are optional, I always encourage to go for the extra flourish because! Details are where things pay off. And, while the recipe calls for a boxed cake and you can use canned icing, if you want to get fancier, you should try making your own cream cheese icing.

Carrot Cake Cookies

-1 Box Carrot Cake Mix

-1 Egg

-1/2 Cup Oil

-1/2 Cup Walnuts (Chopped)

-1 Can Cream Cheese Icing

Mix all ingredients, (excluding the icing can). Roll dough into spoonful sized balls, bake on cookie sheet at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely, and ice. To ice with ease, scoop icing into small ziploc baggie and cut a small incision into the corner of the bag. Sometimes, I pipe on just a simple white swirl. But most otherwise, like as pictured, I tend to ice the cookies with the good old fashioned smear method and then pipe on with ziplocs some of the frosting dyed and placed into baggies. Either way and any way you decide to go, try to avoid putting on too much icing. Don't want to over-sweeten the delicious taste of carrot cake.

In other options with this recipe, you can make German Chocolate Cake cookies by just making the recipe with German Cake Mix and Coconut Pecan Icing. Or Funfetti Cookies with Funfetti Mix and Vanilla Icing. I like to use this recipe essentially for cupcakes when I don't feel like cleaning a cupcake pan. Delicious, cute and small. Plus, super easy for us clutzies! Woohoo :)

Cherry Glazed Sugar Cookies

Okay. So. I wanted to post these today for... well, today. 

Happy Presidents Day! Here is a recipe involving cherries, ha.

I didn't get time to upload them from my camera and then things were just kind of... happening. and the day was suddenly gone. No cherry post. 

My apologies. My cousin even pointed out the lack of President Themed food to which I could only moan about grand intentions that never occurred. 

These are simple, delicious, sugar cookies that my family usually makes and presses sugar into them before they bake, therefore we usually make them without any icing. However, I decided to make a cherry glaze for them and therefore skipped the sugar sprinkled at the end. 

These cookies are buttery, chewy, and spectacular. With sugar, or with icing. I am pretty sure I could eat an entire tray of them. I am pretty sure I may have, actually. They are so addicting, it cannot be avoided. 

In conclusion- make these. Make these tomorrow. They are amazing, you will love them and wish you'd been making them for years. And I have been making these for years. 

Cherry Glaze

-Confectioners Sugar

-Cherry Juice (from Maraschino Cherry jar)

Pour sugar into bowl, slowly add juice until it is consistency you prefer. Could be dense, icing. Or runny, glaze. 

Sugar Cookies

-1 cup butter

-1/2 cup powdered sugar

-1/2 cup sugar

-1 egg

-1/2 teaspoon vanilla

-2 1/4 cup all purpose flour

-1/2 tsp cream of tartar

-1/2 tsp baking soda

-Sugar to sprinkle prior to baking, (if desired/if not making icing/glaze)

Heat oven to 375. Combine butter and sugars. Beat until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, mix. Reduce beater speed to low and add flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Beat until dough becomes a ball. Shape into spoonful/1inch round balls. Place on cookie sheets, flatten now with a glass to about 1/2 inch. IF ADDING SUGAR, dip the glass in water and then sugar (so bottom has sugar stuck to it) and THEN press the dough. If not, use a clean, round, glass when pressing dough. Bake for 7-9 mins. Let cool for 1 min, then remove from cookie sheets and allow to cool completely prior to any icing/glaze. 

Enjoy :)

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Super "Bowl" Youtube/Cereal Dessert Challenge

So. My friend gave me a challenge. A really geeky, really stupid, really fab challenge. Our conversation itself was geeky, with my actually saying "Challenge Accepted" when she described her proposed dare and then our friend taking our hands as we shook on our agreement in exact HIMYM style, (see these scenes to see how it exactly broke down).


For every dessert I made for our super bowl party, I had to fit the theme "Super Bowl". And I also had to have each dessert pay homage to a popular youtube video. 


Challenge accepted! She judged my treats at the party, and I apparently passed with flying colors. To fit the Super "Bowl" theme, I used cereal in each dessert. Get it? Because cereal is super and served in bowls? 

Peanut Butterscotch Cheerio Clusters

Honey Nut Cheerios- Imma Bee-Butterscotch Clusters

Dessert 4/5 of the "Super Bowl Cereal Challenge"

My friend, Taylor, and I are relatively obsessed with the song Imma Bee. It is just so bad it's good. These treats are Honey Nut Cheerio Inspired, and a sweet childhood memory. Make them IMMEDIATELY. They are my favorite dessert shown here. They're butterscotch, peanut butter, deliciousness. I made mine into balls so they could be served in cupcake cups but, really truly, they are so much better just pressed into a 13 by 19, like rice krispie treats. They stay chewier that way, promise it's worth the lack of adorable. You should probably still make the bees though.

Imma Bee-Butterschotch Bars

Mix in a bowl:

-6 c. Cheerios
-11 oz. pkg. butterscotch chips
-1/4 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. vanilla

Bring to a boil:

-1 c. Karo syrup
-1/2 c. brown sugar

-2 c. peanut butter

Add syrup and sugar to first mix. Stir well until mixed. Put into a buttered 9x13 inch cake pan.

 

Shared on http://sunscholars.blogspot.com/

Fruity Lemon Bars

Fruity Pebbles- "Human Hand" Bars

Dessert 2/5 of the "Super Bowl Cereal Challenge"

This is probably my favorite youtube reference and, pretty much no one got it. Once they saw the youtube video, they thought it was hilarious. But! At first, no one at the party got the quotes "Well, I was hungry! And you know, when you crave hands..." or "My stomach was making the rumblies... that only human hands could satisfy!"

Hopefully, some of you have seen Llamas with Hats. Either way, you'll like these lemon cake cookies with glaze and fruity pebble crunch. I used my carrot cake cookie recipe, (please ignore the super blurred/dark pics if you check it out! that was my point and shoot and in my dark, scary, college apartment), adapted with a lemon poppy seed mix and a glaze I made with a simple mix of confectioners sugar, water, and lemon. I also made mine into a big cookie that i cut into hands/bars but, I recommend making them as individual cookies. I think they simply hold up better that way, although no one complained at our super bowl shin dig! Anyway. Make and enjoy :)

Rumbley Satisfying Hand Cookies

-1 Lemon/Lemon Poppy Cake Mix

-1 Egg

-1/2 Cup Oil

-2 cups crushed Fruity Pebble Cereal

-Glaze

Mix all ingredients, (excluding the icing can/cereal). Roll dough into spoonful sized balls, bake on cookie sheet at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely, and ice with glaze. Dip into fruity crushed pieces. Tada! 


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Yoda Lime Bars

Lime bars shaped like Yoda! And colored green to match his signature color. I found this recipe for lemon bars and decided to make some green lime bars to utilize the Yoda shaped pancake mold I have from William Sonoma. I had already used my Storm Trooper and Vader mold so, Yoda was due to have a turn. 


These lime bars were truly luscious. Creamy, sweet, yet tart. The oats were a great touch and made the entire treat more homey in flavor. 


The green was a touch too far on the slime green color in the green spectrum, not necessarily a good "Yoda" green. But I still thought it was fun.


The only thing I would say about this recipe is there was MUCH too much flour in my batch. I don't know if I measured wrong or the recipe just has too much powder for my taste but, I would cut it easily in half. Next time I make these, I will be sprinkling flour into the crust until it's an amount I like more. I'd like the crust to be composed of more brown sugar and oats anyway. 

Hopefully you guys have fun with these and enjoy the recipe! It was seriously divine. Happy baking! And may the force be with you.

Lime Bars:

• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 teaspoons grated lime zest
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 1/4 cups flour (As I mentioned before, however. Mine needed far LESS flour so next time I am going to add flour slowly, just until I like the consistency. Do as you like though, Jill's looked great!)
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 375ºF degrees. Coat 8x8 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Mix milk, lime zest and lime juice in medium bowl until thickened; set aside. Mix remaining ingredients in medium bowl until crumbly.

Press half of the crumbly mixture in pan; bake about 10 minutes or until set.

Spread lime milk mixture over baked crust. Sprinkle remaining crumbly mixture over the lime milk mixture, press down gently. Bake about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and center is set but soft. Cool completely. Cut 4 rows by 4 rows. Or into Yoda if you want to magnify the dessert's awesome.

Cocktails and Deliciously Mixed Up Flavorings

The cocktail pictured above is something I call "Pink Lady" but it is a drink that many college kids know and everyone seems to have their own name for. My favorite thing about it is the unexpected main ingredient, which no one seems to believe me makes up the beverage until they see me making a batch. This is a drink that you make in large quantities, for parties and the like, and whenever I've made it, it's always been gone mid party. No matter how many pitchers I put out.

Also, I don't have any reason I posted the photo with fireworks. It just looked pretty. 

Unexpected combinations are something that brings me considerable amusement. Following the recipe for the unexpected Pink Lady ingredients is another cocktail recipe that people are often hesitant to try- Basil Strawberry. And then following THAT are some more strange combinations in food and drink. Hope you enjoy :)

Pink Lady

-1 to 2 containers PINK lemonade mix (large)

-1 small bottle Cranberry Juice

-4 cups blackberry or raspberry vodka

-1 case Natural Light Beer (or whatever cheap beer you like)

Pour the cheap beer (unexpected, right?) into a container big enough to mix everything and take foam into account. Add remaining ingredients, the amount of lemonade mix to taste preference, and stir carefully. Allow to settle, pour into pitchers, and serve. 

Strawberry Basil Lemonade

-3 strawberries - de-stemmed
-5 basil leaves
-1.5 ounce Smirnoff Strawberry Vodka
-1 ounce Island Oasis Strawberry Puree (or just pureed strawberries)
-Fill (approximately 4 oz.) Lemonade

Muddle 3 strawberries - de-stemmed, with the five basil leaves and Smirnoff in a 16-ounce glass. Mix Strawberry Vodka, and Island Oasis Strawberry Puree in mixing glass or martini shaker. Add ice, shake for 15 seconds and pour into glass. Fill with lemonade and stir.

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Cocktails are not the only place where unexpected combinations can be surprisingly delicious! For example, some of my favorite foods:

-Chicken salad with rosemary and grapes

-Baked tatter tots with cheddar cheese and bacon

-Peanut butter sandwich on toast with grapes, bananas, and honey

-Pepperoni Rolls

-Mac & Meat

-White bread sandwiches with cheddar cheese and ranch Doritos

-Salami and Cream Cheese on toast (which inspired these weird lil guys)

-Hotdogs (on a bun) with celery salt and ketchup

-Crushed pretzels with cream cheese and raspberry jam on toast

-Marshmallows, chocolate chips, and pretzels

-Eggo waffle ice-cream sandwiches 

-Rainbow Rice Krispie Treats*

Those are just some of my favorite comfort/random combination foods. Any weird flavor combos you recommend?

Here's the recipe for Rainbow Rice Krispie Treats as a final note on the delicious and intriguing food combos. Promise you won't want to make normal rice krispie treats ever again.

Rainbow Rice Krispie Treats

-1 small box fruity pebbles

-1 bag large marshmellows

-3 tablespoons butter

Make as you would old school rice krispie treats. Meaning, melt the butter and marshmallows together until boiled down. Stir into cereal, press into 9 by 13 pan. Let cool about 15 minutes to solidify. 

And as a FINAL final bonus recipe, Jello Shots:

As a college student, this recipe was a must know. Outside the university setting, these may be inappropriate but sure as heck can be fun.

Jello Shots

-2 cups boiling water

-1 large box jello (6 oz I believe)

-2 cups flavored vodka/cold water (try to pick a complimentary flavor or go flavorless)

Boil your water and then dissolve your jello mix into it. Pour in your 2 cups vodka/water and distribute between cups. If you want strong shots, go for 2 cups straight vodka. You can water then down, literally!, with water though if you don't want that sugary burn.

I personally feel this is a situation of go big or go home though. You should really make your mama proud and make them as strong as you can :)