Homemade Poptarts

It has been raining here, a lot lately.  It's not that surprising for Vancouver, but it is still keeping us indoors.  When the weather is miserable, I feel the need to bake.  However I did not want to go out to the store and buy ingredients, so I took out a couple of my favourite baking books.  After flipping through a couple, I came a cross homemade pop-tarts, in one of my favourite books.  "Flour" by Joanne Chang.

Pop-tarts were very much a treat in our house.  I don't think we had them very often and if we did they were for a snack not breakfast like in the commercials.  As we got older we were also allowed once in a while Pillsbury toaster strudel's.

When my husband and I were dating we bought some pop-tarts once, and I remember him giving me this strange look, because I did not toast mine.  Maybe it's because I had them as a snack as a kid, but I like them as is not warm.

This recipe reminds me more of a the toaster strudel then a pop-tart, mostly because of the flaky pastry, and because I do prefer these to be warm.

Homemade Pop-tarts by Joanne Chang

THE PASTRY

1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose-flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup, cold unsalted butter, cut in to 12 pieces
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp cold milk

Using a stand mixer (with paddle attachment) mix together flour, sugar and salt for 10 to 15 seconds.  Scatter the butter over top.  Mix on low until the flour holds together when you clump it and lumps of butter the size of pecans are visible throughout.

In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks and milk until it is blended.  Add to the flour mixture all at once.  Mix on low for 30 seconds, or until dough barely comes together.  It will look more like a mess then dough.

Dump dough onto floured work surface, then gather it into a tight mound.  Using your palm and starting on one side of the mound, smear the dough bit by bit, starting at the top of the mound, until most of the butter chunks are smeared into the dough and the dough comes together.  Do this once or twice on each part of the mound, moving through the mound until the whole thing has been smeared into a cohesive dough with streaks of butter.

Gather up the dough, and wrap in plastic wrap and make into a disk.  Place in fridge for 4 hours.  You can also freeze this dough for a month.


 Pop-Tart

Dough
1 egg
1 cup raspberry or strawberry jam

Vanilla Glaze

1 cup icing (confectioner's) sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 to 3 tbsp water
Sprinkles



Heat oven to 350 degrees F

Take the dough out of the fridge and divide in half.  Press each half into a rectangle.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out each half into a 14 by 11 inch rectangle.  Using a paring knife, lightly score one rectangle into eight 3 1/2 by 5 1/2 half inch rectangles.

( I accidentally cut all the way through, it still worked out fine)

Brush top surface of scored rectangle with egg wash.  Spoon 2 tablespoons of jam in the middle of each rectangle.  Lay the second large dough directly on top of the first.  Use fingers to carefully press down around the jam.

Using a knife, pizza wheel or fluted roller, follow the score lines and cut layered dough into 8 rectangles

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until tops are golden.  Let cool on a wire rack for half an hour.

While pop-tarts are cooling, in a small bowl whisk sugar, vanilla and water to make a smooth pourable glaze. 

When the pop-tarts are cooled, brush tops with glaze and sprinkle.

Mother's Day Cake (Pink Lemonade Cake)

   For the last couple of Mother's Day (while my husband watches the kid's) I make myself a mother's day cake.  A cake that I alone want to try and don't care if the rest of my family, like or do not like.  
  
A couple of weeks before mothers day I had come across a tasty looking vanilla and caramel cake.  As Mother's Day approached and I started to look over the recipe, I started to get a little nervous.  The cake that I had chosen to make required a lot of ingredients and steps.  This normally does not bother me, but I did not feel like spending all of my day in the kitchen just some of it.  The next evening my husband and I were watching an episode of Paula Deen that we had taped, and I found my cake.  It was a nice and easy Pink Lemonade cake.  I went off to the store the next morning and bought my cake mix and pink lemonade, the rest of the ingredients I had at home already.

   The only hiccup I had with this cake, was me not really thinking things through when I bought the lemonade powder.  I bought the sugar free brand.  Don't buy the sugar free brand unless you want a really tart cake.  Thank goodness the icing was sweet enough to balance the tart.

Here it is,

PAULA DEEN"S PINK LEMONADE CAKE

Ingredients

Cake:
butter for coating pan
1 white cake mix, plus any additional ingredients the package directions call for
3 tablespoon pink lemonade drink powder
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Frosting:
1 lb confectioners sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoon frozen pink lemonade concentrate
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper or use a baking spray.
For the cake, in a large bowl, stir together the cake mix and lemonade powder (I added a little bit of water to help dissolve)  Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions, using any additional ingredients called for (eggs, milk, water, oil, etc…). Stir the lemon zest into the batter. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cakes comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Carefully turn cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the frosting, beat together the confectioners’ sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in the remaining ingredients until combined. I added a little bit of pink food gel, just to make it a bit more pink.
Transfer one cake to a cake stand or large platter. Using an offset spatula spread the top of the cake with a layer of frosting. Place the second cake on top of the first. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of both layers. 

MSCC: Orange Vanilla Bean Cupcake

Ok so I cheated a little bit. I did not make the candied orange topper.  They looked beautiful, but there just does not seem to be enough time in the day anymore. The rest of the cupcake though was nice and easy to make.  I really enjoyed this cupcake, but then I am a fan of vanilla and orange flavours.  I think when I make this cupcake again I will use a cake and pastry flour.  I found this cupcake a little dense especially the next day. I think cake and pastry flour would make it a little more on the soft and fluffy side.  That being said my family had no problem gobbling these up.  I will make them again and I will try the candies orange.  Thank you to cookin' with moxie for this months fabulous pick.  Please vist Martha Stewart's Cupcakes Club to see how the other bakers did.

Toopy and Binoo Cake

As I have mentioned in some previous blogs, my son wanted a Toopy and Binoo cake for his third birthday cake.  If you are not familiar with Toopy and Binoo, they are a Canadian TV show that are based on preschooler books written by Dominique Jolin (who is from Quebec).  They are huge in our house, but because they are Canadian, it has been a bit of a struggle to find any merchandise.  Thankfully in the last 6 months, I have seen some product appear online and just recently at Toy's R Us.  Nothing for cakes or birthday favours yet, or that I could find.

I did a lot of online searching for cake ideas, and decided to make a cake covered in fondant (marshmallow) and I enlarged and traced the characters below.

I did several tracings of the image so I could cut out key parts (for example Binoo, or Toopy's head).  I lay those cut out parts on to the rolled out fondant and used a knife to cut the outline.  A bit time consuming, but nothing compared to all the kneading I had to do, to dye the marshmallow fondant.  My arms were sore after all that.  To finish the cake off, I did a border with the left over mini marshmallows.  Toopy and Binoo love marshmallows as does my son.

I was extremely happy with the result, as was my son and his little friends.  Can't wait to to see what cake ideas he comes up with next year.

Easter Bunny Cake

My son's birthday is next weekend and the cake I am doing will be covered in Fondant.  Since I have never covered a cake in fondant I thought it would be a good idea to try it out first, and I had received this cute bunny cake pan for my birthday a couple of weeks ago.  The other thing I wanted to try was making marshmallow fondant.  I have used the store bought stuff before for embellishments, but the stuff tasted awful and was expensive.  Then I discovered marshmallow fondant.  How have I not heard of this before.  It was 3 ingredients and dead simple to make and it tastes better then the regular stuff.  Here is the recipe I used.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces miniature marshmallows (4 cups not packed, or half of a 16-ounce bag)
• 1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups), plus extra for dusting
• 2 tbsp water
• Food coloring or flavored extracts, optional

Dust your counter or a large cutting board with powdered sugar. Put the marshmallows and the water in a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for a minute, until the marshmallows are puffy and have expanded.

Stir marshmallows with a rubber spatula until they are melted and smooth. If some unmelted marshmallow pieces remain, return to the microwave for 30 seconds, until the marshmallow mixture is smooth and free of lumps. If you want coloured or flavoured fondant, you can add several drops of food coloring or extracts at this point and stir until incorporated. 

Add powdered sugar and begin to stir with a spatula. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate and it becomes stiff.

Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto your work surface that has been covered in powder sugar. This is going to get messy. Dust your hands with powdered sugar, and begin to knead the fondant mixture like bread dough, working the sugar into the marshmallow with your hands.

Continue to knead the fondant until it is no longer sticky and smooth. Once the fondant is a smooth ball, it is ready to be used. You can now roll it out and shape it. To store, wrap well in cling wrap. Well-wrapped fondant can be stored in a cool room or in the refrigerator, and needs to be kneaded until supple before later use.

I also made some cute little baby chick cupcakes.

 



Club Baked: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

I have to admit that these were a bit of a disaster for me.  I always seem to mess up on the easier recipes.  Everything was going well, until I reached the part of adding the buttermilk.  I was distracted by a massive baby and toddler fight that was happening right my feet.  All because my little one had pulled up on the step stool my older one was standing on.  Geesh.  Anyways I ended up adding a cup of milk and not half a cup.  Of course I did not figure it out until I had put them in the oven.  They baked up alright, but had no flavor at all.  Good thing I live in a house full of boys, add some frosting and some sprinkles and they are the best tasting thing ever :)

Thank to Andrea for hosting and I look forward to reading how the other bakers  turned out.  I will try these again, and next time only add the half cup.

Club Baked: Nutella Scones

Welcome to my first blog with Club Baked.  This is another baking book (Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito) that I received this past Christmas.  So far everything I have tried from this book has been a huge hit in our house, and it looks like I joined just in time to make the one recipe my husband has had his eye on.  He LOVES Nutella.  To the point that we actually don't keep it in the house, because he will eat a full container in a day.  I even hid the container when I brought it home so I would have enough to make this recipe.

The recipe was easy enough to make.  I was able to get it done during the day while my youngest was napping.  I decided to leave out the nuts so my baby was able to have a bit as well.  I also put more Nutella then asked for in the scone.  This made for a real mess when I flattened it into a round disk, but worth it in the end.  These scones were super tasty and made me wish I had some vanilla ice cream.

Instead  of using spoons to drizzle the Nutella on as they suggested in the book, I decided to use my squeeze tube that I use for decorating sugar cookies.  This way everyone was able to put on as little Nutella or in my my family's case as much Nutella as they wanted.  This was a great recipe and we will definitely be making these again.  Thank you to Lorraine at PhDcupcaker, for hosting. Make sure to check out her site for the recipe.  Also make sure to check out Club Baked to see how all the other bakers did.

                                                

Happy First Birthday Liam

Well my baby turned ONE this past week and since he does not have a favorite anything (at the moment) I picked the theme.  I decided to go with Mickey Mouse.  I think my cake turned out pretty darn cute.  Between work and kids this cake was a two day process, but boy was it worth it.  I made the cakes (two small pans and one big pan) as well as the black icing on one day and made the peach and red icing and decorated the next day.  I thought I was going to have a hard time getting the black icing black and not purple.  However the trick of dying chocolate buttercream vs regular buttercream really did the trick.  I also made some cookies shaped as Mickey Mouse's pants as well.

I found this on the  Disney family site.  Super cute.  Just use your favorite sugar cookie recipe and some yogurt covered raisins and visit the site to get the template.  Make sure to use a lot of red food colour.  Mine were red when they went in the oven, but when they came out, the heat had turned them pink.  They still tasted and looked great, but would have been even better if they were red.

The little guy had a great time and I can't wait to make more cakes for him in the future.  My two year old has already informed me he wants a Toopy and Binoo cake.  I have two months to figure out what the heck I am going to do for that.

Cake time



One tired little boy

MSCC : Strawberry, I mean Raspberry Marble Cheesecake

This is my first recipe that I am baking with the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club.  My hubby bought me this book just a couple of months ago for Christmas and even though I am a little late joining this party, they still have plenty of recipes left to try.

This months selection was chosen by  Gem at Cupcake Crazy Gem.  I thought this was a great pick and I used this as my Valentine's day dessert.  I did make one modification, as you can see from my title.  My husband is not a raspberry fan, so I went and used strawberries instead. I found these to be very tasty and everyone went back for more.  I topped mine with some whip cream and sprinkles for the occasion.

I did have to eat these with a fork out of the wrapper.  Not because of the whip cream, but because I found them a bit tricky to get out of the wrapper.  Not sure if I was the only one that had this problem, or if this was how it was supposed to be.  I did cut this recipe in half so I may have not put in enough or to much of something.  However fork or no fork, this recipe was super tasty and I will be baking them again.   My boys were very happy with their Valentine treat.  You can find the recipe here and make sure to visit MSCC to see how the other bakers did.





Chocolate-toffe crunch layer cake with milk chocolate frosting (hubby's birthday cake)

I have had my eye on this recipe for some time now.  Originally I was going to make it for my husband's birthday last year, but being 3 weeks shy of giving birth to our second son, I was in no mood to bake.  This recipe is from The Bon Appetit Cookbook by Barbara Fairchild.  There is a great cake section in the back of the book, and so far all that I have tried have been super tasty. 

My husband loves Skor bars, and this cake calls for crushed Skor bars in the middle layer of the cake.  It was a nice little crunch in an otherwise moist cake.  The cake was super yummy and we had no problems finishing this cake.  I think this cake would be even better if it was for a larger crowd because after the first day, the crunchy skor bar in the middle got a little soft.

 I did have some problems with the icing.  For some reason I could not get it to the correct thickness.  It was still a little on the runny side.  It still tasted great, so I decided to pour it on the cake and then let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours to firm up a bit.  It still tasted great even if it was not as pretty as I would have liked.  I had some left over Skor bars so I crushed them on the top instead of the chocolate curls that the recipe asked for.

Hubby loved his cake as did my oldest.  The baby so badly wanted some, but he will get to try his very own cake in three weeks.

Chocolate-toffee crunch layer cake with milk chocolate frosting

Cake

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup hot water

1 3/4 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temp

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs at room temp

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup whole milk

Frosting

1 1/4 cups whipping cream

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 pound milk chocolate (like Lindt) chopped

4  1.4 ounce chocolate-covered English toffee

(like skor)

1  7 ounce bar milk chocolate

For the cake

Pre heat oven to 350f and make sure the rack is in the centre.  Prepare two 9 inch diameter cake pans. Combine unsweetened chocolate and 1/2 cup hot water in small saucepan.  Stir over low heat until chocolate is melted and smooth.  Cool to lukewarm, stirring often. 

Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and blend.  Using an electric mixer, beat butter in a large bowl until fluffy.  Gradually add the sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.  Add vanilla.  Beat in chocolate mixture.  Add flour mixture in three additions alternating with milk in two additions. 

Divide batter equally between the two pans.  Bake cakes fro 35 minutes or until tester inserted into middle of the cake comes out clean.  Cool cakes in pans on rack for 5 minutes and then turn cakes out onto racks to cool completely.

For Frosting

Combine cream, corn syrup and butter in large saucepan.  Whisk over medium heat until mixture begins to simmer.  Add the chopped milk chocolate.  reduce heat to low and whisk until the mixture is smooth.  Transfer to a bowl.

Fill another large bowl with ice.  Set the bowl with chocolate mixture on top of bowl with ice.  Whisk until cool and starts to thicken (about 8 minutes).  Remove bowl from ice.  Use an electric mixture and beat until colour lightens and the frosting is thick enough to make peaks.

Place 1 cake layer, flat side up on a cardboard round.  Top layer with 1 1/2 cup frosting and spread to edge.  Sprinkle evenly with diced toffee.  Top with second layer of cake.  Spread thin layer of frosting to seal the crumbs.  Then working quickly spread remaining frosting on the cake.

Decorate with chocolate curls or in my case crumbled up skor bars.

Enjoy.

                                             

                                               

                                                     

Monkey-Bubble Bread

This Christmas I received four brand new brand new baking books.  Martha Stewart Cupcakes, Back to Baking by Anna Olson, Cake Pops (Bakerella) and Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. 

The last book "Baked Explorations" I have wanted for a while.  It was actually a Christmas present to myself.  There are so many tasty looking recipes, I did not know where to start.  So why not the first page.  This recipe suggests that this bread should be made for a large crowd or you will be eating it all to yourself.  So I took their advise and made it for a post Christmas get together at my in laws.  The second suggestion is to serve warm.  I was not sure if I was going to be able to pull that one off.  I did not have instant yeast only bread machine yeast so it took two hours to rise versus the one it says in the book. However my baby overslept his nap by an hour so the bread was finnished on time and still warm when I got to my in laws.  The smell nearly drove my husband and I crazy.  The whole car smelled like a Cinnabon.

They were a hit, not to much was left at the end of the day.  Mostly because of my husbands two teenage cousins.  They were more then happy to take the handful that were left home in a Ziploc bag.

I will definitely be making these again, very easy to make, and turns out just like the picture (love when that happens).


MONKEY-BUBBLE BREAD

For the Bread
1 1/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons instant yeast
4 cups all purpose flour
5 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
5 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

For the cinnamon sugar coating
1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled


Spray the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan with cooking spray.

In a small saucepan, warm the milk to a little over room temperature and remove from heat.  Add the yeast and whisk to dissolve.

In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar and salt until combined.

In a small bowl beat the egg with a fork and add to dry ingredients.  Mix on low speed until combined.

Keeping the mixer on low, slowly add the milk until combined.  Add the melted butter and mix until the dough comes together.  Replace the paddle attachmentt with the dough hook.  Continue to mix on medium for 8 to 10 minutes or until silky.  The dough should mound together.  If to wet add flour, if to dry add water.

Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl.  Make sure to roll the dough around the bowl so all sides are covered in oil.  Cover with a dish towel and let it rest somewhere warm for an hour (or more, in my case)

Put some parchment paper on a sheet pan.

Use cleans hands to push down the dough.  Pat it into a rough circle.  Use a serrated knife to cut dough into 1 to 1 1/2 inc pieces.  Roll into balls.  Lay them on the sheet pan and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

In a small bowl mix sugar and cinnamon.  Have the melted butter in a separate bowl.

Remove plastic wrap and dip the balls in the melted butter.  Then roll them in the sugar and place in the Bundt pan.  Repeat.  Wrap the Bundt pan tightly in plastic wrap and let rest for an hour in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Remove plastic and bake for 30 minutes or until it is a deep brown and the caramel coating is bubbly at the edges.

Cool bread for 5 minutes and turn on to a platter.  YUMMY.

Snowman Oreo Pop's

I saw these on a fellow blogger's site (The Sweet Swiper) and absolutely fell in love with them and had to make them for my hard working co workers this Christmas season.  I was so sure these were going to be a lot faster  to make then cake pops.  And they would have been if not for a couple of speed bumps along the way.

Everything started off great.

 The vanilla candy melt was melted.

The Oreo's were ready to go

And then were ready to dry and have faces.

Then disaster. 

I started making the peppermint snowman.  I had just taken the peppermint candy melts out of the microwave and placed them on the counter, when they went crashing down on to the floor. I guess I put them on the edge. First lesson learned, I will from now on melt my candy melts in a microwavable safe plastic bowl and not glass.  The bowl broke . The candy hardened on the cold tile floor.  I had a hard candy with glass mess on my floor.  I had to get on my hands and knees and use a spatula to scrape off the candy and glass.  It was not a pretty site.  I did not take a picture, because at the moment I was very mad.  Thank goodness for the extra bag of white candy melts.

The second lesson learned was this.  You can not use food colouring in candy melts.  It makes it hard and lumpy, and no matter what I did, I could not get it back to a nice smooth texture.  Next time I will think ahead and either by the colour of candy melts I want to pipe or use royal icing.   I used royal icing to pipe the nose, eyes and mouth.

In the end my co workers were extremely pleased with the result and that's all that matters.

Baking with Grandmaman

My 90 year old Grandmaman from New Brunswick has been in town for the last month.  It is always nice to have her come down, especially since every time she leaves she always tells us it will be her last time.  However her grandchildren keep having babies.  She is up to five great grandchildren.  Kind of hard for her to pass up seeing all these cute little babies.

Last week I had the pleasure of having her over and making one of my favourite cookie recipes that she made every time she was visiting when I was kid.  And the best part was watching my 2 year old son help her ( she gave him a measuring cup with a little bit of flour).  The recipe comes from a great aunt. The name of the cookie that I grew up with is "Biscuit au Sucre Blanc" de ma tante Marie.
Translation, Aunt Marie's White Sugar Cookie.  These however are not you normal sugar cookies.  They are soft and fluffy, and the best part is that they are doubled up with jam inside. I make these every Christmas, it is tradition in my family and hopefully the tradition will continue.

Ma Tante Marie, Biscuit Au Sucre Blanc

2 eggs
1 3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup shortening (almost melted)
3/4 cup warm milk
3 tsp cream of tartar (slightly rounded)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour (may need up to 4 1/2 cups)
Strawberry Jam

Bake @ 350f for 10 to 12 minutes

Prepare shortening

In large bowl cream together shortening, sugar eggs and vanilla.

Prepare dry ingredients.  Measure out flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.

Prepare milk (30 seconds in the microwave)

Alternate adding flour mixture and milk to the batter.

May need to add more flour, keep in mind dough needs to be refrigerated (30 minutes) and you will use more flour to roll it out.

Divide dough in 4 and roll out shapes.  Half the cut outs should have a hole to let the jam through.

Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes.  I have a hot stove and only needed 8 minutes.  Just keep an eye on your first batch.  They should be white on top and slightly golden on the bottom.

Let cool, jam and then double up.

I find these cookies taste best after they have had time for the jam to absorb into the cookie, for a bit.

Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

This might be a bit embarrassing to admit, but I have (until this afternoon) never eaten or baked a whoppie pie.  I have always seen them on TV or in my baking books, but for some reason have always gone with a different recipe.  Well after today I think I will try a whole bunch more of these soft little pillows of yummyness.

Now as you can see from the title, the recipe that finally grabbed my attention is for a peanut butter whoppie pie.  I LOVE peanut butter.  I eat the stuff everyday and now it seems I have passed down my love for it to my two year old son, who like me needs to have it on a slice of toast every morning. 

I got this recipe from my 2006 Holiday Cookie Magazine by Martha Stewart.  It was super simple to make and really did not take up to much of my time.  Meaning I was able to make this recipe with no kids napping.  The stand mixer definitely helps speed up the process, but no big deal if you don't have one.

 PEANUT BUTTER WHOPPIE PIES

For the cookie
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the filling
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 375F.  Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl; set aside.

2. Put butter, shortening and sugars into a bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment.  Mix on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Add egg; mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Mix in half the flour mixture, then milk and vanilla.  Mix in remaining flour mixture

3. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough on to baking sheets lined with parchment papers, spacing 2 inches apart.  Bake until cookies spring back when lightly touched, 12 to 14 minutes (my oven was 10 minutes).  Let cool on sheets on wired racks for 10 minutes.  Transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool.

 4. Make filling: Put peanut butter and butter in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment.  Mix on high speed until smooth.  reduce mixer speed to low.  Add confectioner's sugar; mix until combined.  Raise speed to high, and mix until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes.

   
5.  Assemble cookies:  Spread 1 tablespoon filling on bottom of 1 cookie.  Sandwich with another cookie.  Repeat with remaining cookies and filling.  Cookies can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 3 days.








**My husband and 2 year old approve this recipe, and I am sure my baby would also, if he was allowed to eat one. I mean look at the drool coming out of his mouth.**

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my new baking blog. 

To make things more simple on myself, I have decided to try blogging about my baking adventures on an actual blog site and not my photo sharing site (it did not have the best format). I have always enjoyed baking, but have been doing more and more since I became married and have had children. I hope you enjoy baking and eating these goodies as much as my family and I do.

Alissa