martha stewart's outrageous chocolate cookies

i'm always a fan of a good cookie (recipe). this one here is for sure a keeper. plus, it comes from good old martha, which is a major plus. and on top of that, it's chocolate! what i love most about this recipe though is the fact that i don't need any fancy ingredients. everything you see here are items you pretty should have in stock already (assuming you are the occasional baker). or even if you don't, you can get these items easily with a quick trip to the grocery store.

these chocolate cookies are great. i love how soft and chewy they are. it's almost like eating a brownie, but in a cookie form. they make for great gifts as well. i actually made these for a girls night in event and we all loved it. well, i know i did. ;)

so if you're craving for some chocolates, or (chocolate) cookies.. why not give this a try? you won't be disappointed. :)





martha stewart's outrageous chocolate cookies
recipe from here

ingredients:

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks

directions:

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring between each, until almost melted; do not overheat.
3. in another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. in a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. mix in flour mixture until just combined. stir in chocolate chunks.
5. drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets.
6. bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. cool on baking sheets 10 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. or if you prefer (which is what i do) you can eat them after they've cooled a little bit. typically that's a few minutes out of the oven. they taste best warm, i think.

note: don't worry if the batter seems thin. it should look more like a brownie batter than a cookie dough. oh, and do not bake the cookies to a crisp; they are meant to be soft and chewy.

vanilla cupcakes

you know me. okay, maybe not really. but what i was going to say here was, i never like throwing any leftover ingredients out if it's still good and i know that i can make use of it. so as usual... you know, the typical mexican dinner night that calls for sour cream, well, there was a bunch leftover. so, what did i do with it? of course, bake with the leftovers!

what we have here is a super moist, waaaay delicious and perfectly sweetened vanilla cupcake; and nicely decorated for easter sunday (yes, this was our easter meal dessert – of course you can decorate it anyway you like for any occasion). i say you can skip the frosting if you want, because the cake out of the oven is seriously a yummy bite already. the sour cream in this recipe is superb. for sure better than your buttermilk or good ol' milk. the cake comes out perfectly baked and not dry at all. i love that the taste and texture stays true even a couple days later (yeah, sitting out on the counter... and so not in an airtight container! my bad).

this recipe is for sure a keeper in my opinion. if you’d like to see it for yourself, i say go ahead and give it a try. it's super simple to make. you can't mess up. i've made it two times in the last week and loved it every time. the only thing i wasn't too crazy about was that although the cake puffed up (rise) while baking in the oven, once you take it out and it cools, it falls back and dips just a tad. not totally crazy about that, but hey, i guess that's okay when it's so good. not too big of a deal especially if you're going to frost it. you won't be able to tell.

okay, enjoy! :)



vanilla cupcakes
recipe from here

ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin/cupcake tin with paper or foil liners.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, egg and egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.
3. Divide batter evenly among cups of prepared tin. Bake until cupcake tops are pale gold and toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature before frosting. For frosting ideas, you can check out these recipes.

makes 12 standard size cupcakes. enjoy and happy eating. :)

apple crumble granola

hello there! it's been a good while and i finally got around to editing some food photos from a while back. i had actually meant to post this up about a month ago but i accidentally deleted the edited photos and had to re-edit them again. anyway, here's a recipe for a breakfast granola, apple crumble granola, that is. sounds pretty awesome, eh? i think so!

i've never made granola before and so this is for sure a first. how did it turn out? ahhhh... okay, i guess. i didn't know what to expect so i can't really say a whole lot. what i can say is that it's not really sweet. or as according to m, not at all! so if you like it a little sweeter, i recommend adding more honey or possibly even sprinkling in some brown sugar (note: i have not tried this). another thing was either i totally did this wrong, mine didn't clump together the way i thought granola should. you see, i found this recipe on some random sight online and from the pictures i saw, it came out perfectly fine. so maybe i did something wrong? who knows.

well, below's the recipe should you be interested. i'm sure you'll have better luck with it than me. regardless, i still thought it tasted alright. i do love the apple and cinnamon flavor that comes through. and what better way to dress up a bowl of non-fat greek yogurt in the morning than some granolas and fresh fruits?





apple crumble granola
recipe adapted from here

ingredients:

• 300g (3-1/3 cups) oats
• 1 apple (with or without skin)
• 30g (2 tbsp) butter
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup raisins

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350°F.
2. first, pour the oats into a mixing bowl, and grate the apple over the top. or for a chewier granola, finely dice the apple instead for large chunks. stir it into the oats quickly to prevent the apple from browning as it comes into contact with the air.
3. pop the butter in a microwaveable dish and ping on a high heat for 20 seconds to melt. add the honey and cinnamon to the melted butter and stir through. pour into the oats and apple mixture, and stir well to coat lightly and evenly.
4. lightly grease a baking tray or roasting tin (i actually just used a silpat on a baking sheet), and tip the oat mixture in. roughly even out with a spoon, but don't press down as you want it to clump together in chunks, not make a flapjack! pop it into the center of the oven at 30 minutes, removing to shake gently halfway through.
5. allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container. it will keep for a few weeks if stored in a cool dry place.

FOR VEGANS: replace the 30g of butter with around 40ml oil, and the honey with either sugar, golden syrup or agave nectar, whichever you prefer.

TO MAKE IT GO FURTHER: add half a handful of raisins, cranberries or other dried fruit to make it go further.

you can eat this slightly warmed up, or thrown into plain yogurt... pretty much anything. it's perfect for breakfast or as a snack anytime throughout the day.