Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (Dairy Free)

So another year has gone by and I have not posted anything on my blog.  It's probably the wrong time to attempt to start things up again but here it goes! Amongst mid terms and my last semester of college I may be jumping the gun but don't blame me for trying.  I'm entering the time of my life where I must start attempting to figure out what the heck I'm doing with my life and wow is it overwhelming.  I've got my head on straight and am taking things one day at a time with no rush to have a concrete plan. 

And one of my favorite times of year is upon us.  The leaving are changing colors and making there way to the pavement.  The rain should be coming soon and it's no longer ghastly hot outside.  With fall comes pumpkin everything which I never complain about.  Trader Joes is my favorite place to shop this time of year because they have everything from pumpkin ravioli, to pumpkin cream cheese, to candied pumpkin seeds.  I just can't get enough of it! And as I read my last blog post it is not so different from this one... raving about fall, what can I say!

So of course with the pumpkin frenzy I had to make something of my own.  Pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips, couldn't leave that second part out could I?? I didn't take pictures during the process of making these cookies but they are so easy that I'm sure you won't have any problems!

First off I want to acknowledge a new blog I've found called Two Twenty One where I found this amazing recipe that I will be using year round now that I've discovered it. 

There's really not many tips I can give for this recipe because it was just so straight forward and easy. One thing that I did tweak was that the recipe only calls for cinnamon and I used pumpkin pie spice instead which gave it that extra oomph but totally up to you. 

Ingredients:

This recipe makes 18-24 cookies. 

1/2 cup vegetable oil 
1 cup pumpkin puree 
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. milk (I used almond)
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
1.5-2 cups chocolate chips 

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2.  In a medium bowl, combine oil, pumpkin, sugar, egg, and vanilla and whisk until combined.
3.  In small bowl combine baking soda and milk and stir into pumpkin mixture. 
4.  In another medium bowl, combine spices, flour, baking powder, and salt. 
5.  Combine pumpkin mixture and dry ingredients until uniform. 
6.  Fold in chocolate chips to desired amount. 
7.  Place dollops of cookie dough onto pre-greased cookie sheet (no need to space out a lot, I didn't find they expanded outwards much). 
8.  Bake for 12-13 minutes, allow to cool, and enjoy! 

Happy baking y'all!! 

Deconstructed S'mores

So not going to lie but I did not have a lot of faith in this recipe until it was complete. Meaning along the way I was not sure if I was doing it right but then in the end it was delicious. 

My cousin Kate sent me this recipe months ago and before I went back to school (which is where I am now) I decided to make it! My friend Chelsea helped me make it and eat it too! Love you Chels! 

I am stealing my cousins title for it which is "Deconstructed S'mores."  Basically there are 4 layers, all essential, and together equal perfection.  The bottom layer is made of Biscoff cookies (among other things), the second layer is a butterscotch layer, the third is a marshmallow layer, and the final fourth layer is dark chocolate. 

Just make these.  Take my word for it.  Specific warning on the butterscotch layer though.  I used Nestle butterscotch chips which melt in a very peculiar way.  I tried melting them in a pan and continued trying to melt them in the microwave.  It turns into this kind of chunky consistency but don't worry.  Just try to spread it out as much as you can and it will somehow all come together in the end.  It just doesn't look very appetizing in the moment of melting. 

I'm not even the biggest S'mores fan but these I could eat these all day long.  Thank you Kate so much for this recipe! I will definitely be doing it again- maybe an entire pan just for Jake. Side story: I saved my boyfriend a hefty chunk of this dessert and brought it to him on the airplane and everything and he devoured it very quickly- which is a good sign. 

Ingredients:

Cookie Layer:
- 1 package Biscoff cookies
- 2 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 stick butter

Butterscotch Layer:
- 3/4 package butterscotch chips
- 2 tbsp. heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Marshmallow Layer:
- 1.5 cups marshmallow fluff (a little more than one container)
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tbsp. butter

Chocolate Layer:
- 3 cups chocolate chips (semi sweet)
- 1 tbsp. shortening
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt

*Flake salt to sprinkle on top.                                  

                                                                                                

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Place the whole package of Biscoff cookies in a food processor and grind thoroughly.  Add in the brown sugar and melted butter.  Press crust ingredients into a greased 9x13 inch baking pan.  Bake for 17 minutes and cool completely.

2.  Melt the butterscotch chips with heavy cream in a saucepan.  Stir constantly.  Mix in cinnamon and salt.  Spread as evenly as possible over cooled cookie layer.  Chill in the fridge for 15-30 minutes. 

3.  For the marshmallow layer, microwave marshmallow fluff with cinnamon and butter for about 30 seconds or until liquified.  Mix with a spoon to incorporate all the ingredients together.  Pour over chilled butterscotch for 15-30 minutes.

4.  Melt the chocolate chips and butter either in a double boiler or in the microwave.  Spread the chocolate over the chilled marshmallow.  Sprinkle flaked sea salt over the chocolate.  Chill for 45 minutes to an hour.  If you don't have much time you can place in the freezer as well. 

5.  Cut up and enjoy, but always keep in the fridge when not serving or consuming! Enjoy!

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

There is an interesting story of how these shortbread cookies came about. Sorry Willie, (my 16 year old brother) but I am going to bash on you for just a second.  So, I had just finished a long day of work and was looking forward to putting my feet up for the rest of the night when my brother calls me and asks if I can make him cookies for a bake sale the following day.  I can never say no to baking no matter how tired I am so of course I agreed. 

I thought for about 30 minutes about what was easy to make and what he could sell easily and I decided upon shortbread.  My mom makes it every year at Christmas time and it is delicious but I had never actually taking a whack at it myself, so I thought why not?

They worked out quite splendidly and though my brothers bake sale was not very successful overall I happen to think that the cookies were... and my friends who got the left overs agreed as well. 

The bake sale that my brother did was to prevent sex trafficking and to help people to escape to freedom so in the end I was happy to help out for a good cause. 

I figured that I would do heart shaped cookies because everyone can use a little love.  Especially at the end of the school year! 

Also want to mention that I got this recipe from the Joy of Baking blog!

Ingredients:

This recipe makes about 25 heart shaped cookies. 

2 cups flour
1/4 cup salt
2 sticks softened unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup melted chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Whisk the flour and salt together and set aside. 
2. Beat butter in an electric mixer until creamy.  Add in sugar and mix until smooth for several minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract. 
3. Gently stir in the flour mixture (you will probably have to use your hands to knead it until it has a doughy consistency). 
4. Flatten into about a 1/2 inch round shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for about an hour.  
5. Preheat the oven to 350.
6. Roll out the dough on a flat surface while making sure there is plenty of flour to keep it from sticking to the surface and the rolling pin. 
7. Line baking sheets with parchment paper before placing cookies onto them.
8. Continue to roll it out until it is about a quarter inch thick and using cookie cutters cut out whatever shape you want.

9. Place the baking sheets containing unbaked cookies in the refrigerator directly before baking for about 15 minutes. 
10. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are just turning a very light brown color. 
11. If you want to make these twice as delicious melt some chocolate chips in a glass bowl and using a knife, spatula, or dipping, paint some melted chocolate onto each cookie and set aside to allow them to cool and harden. 

Feel free to add different sprinkles or decor onto the chocolate as displayed below. 
Once they have set (or even before) dig in! 

Happy Baking as always! 

Double Chocolate Heath Bar Cookies with Salted Caramel

This cookie is very multifaceted because not only does it have chocolate chips and cocoa powder but it has toffee/heath bars bits as well, not to mention the salted caramel drizzled on top! 

Baking is sort of an addiction of mine.  When I get hooked on the fact that I want to bake something it will most likely happen. I had several little bumps in the road while making these cookies like randomly having no baking soda and scootering down to my neighbors who graciously gave me some.  Of course I returned the favor by giving her a plate of cookies! Another was that I barely had any caramel so only about half of the cookies had it which is fine because it isn't totally necessary but gives it some extra oomph. 

This summer has been great so far, I have a perfect balance between baking, blogging, working, free time, time with friends and family, etc.  I am excited to hopefully start volunteering at an animal shelter sometime soon as well. 

If you have a history with me you know that I like Heath Bar, especially because my boyfriend gave me pounds of it 2 years ago... which is now almost gone, this is the last bag: 

I guess this is going to be good for me though because I will need to expand beyond the world of Heath bar deliciousness! Anyways hope you enjoy this recipe which was inspired by Center Cut Cook.

Ingredients:

This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies. 

2 sticks of unsalted softened butter

1.5 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

2/3 cups cocoa powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup heath bar bits

*Optional: salted caramel for topping

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

2. With an electric mixer combine softened butter and sugar until it appears creamy. Add in eggs and vanilla and mix again until combined. 

3. In a large separate bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet with a spatula. 

4. Fold in the chocolate chips and toffee.

5. Roll the cookie dough into balls and space evenly apart on a baking sheet.  It is recommended to leave about 1.5-2 inches of space between each dough. 

6. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, remove from the oven, allow to cool a little on the sheet, and finally transfer onto a cooling rack. 

7. While they are cooling drizzle the salted caramel onto each cookie.  

Serve and enjoy!

Happy baking everyone!

Nanaimo Bars

Most of you have probably never heard of these so called, Nanaimo bars, but now that you know what they are there is no turning back!  They are rich, creamy, and decadent... enough said!

Basically these consist of three different layers.  The bottom layer is mostly made up of coconut, graham cracker, pecans or almonds, and cocoa powder.  The middle layer is creamy made with heavy whipping cream, butter, pudding mix, and powdered sugar.  The top layer is the most simple but brings it to completion: chocolate and butter.  

When I was at school last semester my friends mom made some of these for him one day and I tried them.  I had never had them before and I really enjoyed them so I figured that once I got home I would try to make them myself.  With having no clue what they were made out of I referred to one of my favorite blogs, Cooking Classy, to begin my adventure. 

My mom called on my baking "expertise" to make something to bring to my brothers lacrosse banquet and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to give it a shot.  I had to hope that it would all work out because I did not have the time for it not to.  Luckily it did, and now I get to share it with you all!  Another awesome thing about this recipe is that you don't have to bake anything all you do is prepare it and its pretty much ready to eat!

Update: I am loving summer and can't get enough of this beautiful weather.  I am working 2 hostess jobs to make some money but I am trying to have a fare amount of relaxing as well.

Ingredients:

This recipe makes about a 9"x14" pan of bars. 

Base layer: 
1 cup diced salted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
6 tbsp. cocoa powder
2 eggs, beaten
3 tsp. vanilla
3.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
1.5 cups shredded sweetened coconut
1 cup finely chopped almonds (or pecans)

Middle layer:
2/3 cup softened salted butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
4 tbsp. vanilla pudding mix 
4 cups powdered sugar

Top Layer: 
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 tbsp salted butter

Directions:

Base layer:
Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Once melted, remove from heat and add in brown sugar and cocoa powder until fully combined. 
Continue whisking and while doing so, add in the 2 beaten eggs and combine. 
Return to heat for several minutes until it has thickened.  Stir in vanilla once removed from heat. 
Using a food processor, make the designated amount of finely chopped graham cracker, shredded coconut, and almonds.  I made all of these ingredients pretty fine but it is technically up to you if you want it to be more crunchy!  The picture below is the almonds. 

Once you have combined the graham cracker, coconut, and almonds in a large glass bowl, pour in the chocolate mixture and using a spatula mix until fully coated. 

Press this into a even layer in a pre-greased pan, cover, and place in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. 

For the middle layer:

Using an electric mixer combine butter, heavy whipping cream, and pudding mix for several minutes until smooth and creamy.  

Add in powdered sugar and beat slowly until fully incorporated. 

Spread mixture in an even layer over the base layer, cover, and freeze for 10-15 minutes. 

For the top layer: 

Melt chocolate chips and butter in a heatproof bowl either in 30 second intervals in the microwave (with stirring in between) or over a pot of boiling water. 

Spread this evenly over the preceding two layers of the bars, cover, and refrigerate until ready to eat!

These should definitely be cold right up until the time they are served or else they start to melt pretty quick!  Not the type of dessert that should be left out for awhile! 

These are a new, hip, modern dessert that will not disappoint.  Even my mom who hates shredded coconut liked them!  I hope you try these out and that you are having a great start to the new month of June! 

Happy baking!

Football Cupcakes!

This post is extremely late but what's new, I have a million things to do in this hectic college life of mine! It was so exciting to see the San Francisco 49er's in the Super-Bowl this year and devastating to see them lose, but they did not go down without a fight. Proud to be a native Bay Area sports fan these days!

I made these a few weeks ago for the Super-Bowl and anyone who was watching in my lounge a few weeks ago.  I'll take any excuse I can to bake, let's be honest. 

Just so you all know before I proceed this is going to be a decorating post, not a recipe post!  I totally cheated because of my time constraints and used boxed chocolate cake mix and bought frosting.  I rarely do this but I had to so sorry about that.

These cupcakes look adorable and are quite simple to execute.  All you need is a few ingredients and a little bit of patience.  They are not only perfect for professional sporting events but also for kids birthdays or just for fun!

I have not been on my baking game lately and I really miss it so I am hoping that maybe this weekend I will be able to carve out a few hours to relax and "whip" out (see what I did there) my oven mitt and electric mixer.  

If any one has any suggestions just let me know, I'm always interested in all of your opinions and could always use some fresh ideas. 

What you will need: 

- Cupcakes and liners

- Frosting (both of these can be found in my recipe index)

- 24 unwrapped Tootsie Rolls

- Small star piping tip and bag

Directions:

Step 1: Start off with 24 ready made chocolate or vanilla cupcakes and your choice of frosting, which must be thick enough to pipe.  Dye 90% of it green for the grass and leave the other 10% white for the lacing on the footballs.

 

Step 2: Microwave the Tootsie Rolls for 15-20 seconds, so that they are still in tact but just soft enough to mold into shape.  Shape each Tootsie Roll so that it is an oval to represent a football.  Using the smallest round piping tip you have, pipe one line in the center vertically and 3 lines across horizontally to displaying the lacing. 

           

Step 3: Pipe the green frosting onto each cupcake using a star tip to try and represent green grass. 

Step 4: Place one football on the top of each cupcake and you are done! Hand them out, bring to a party, make for a birthday, and enjoy!

As always, I hope you try it out and have a good rest of February- spring is going to be here before we know it! 

Happy baking everyone! 

Rocky Road Brownies

First of all I am SO sorry that I have not posted in about 3 weeks, I have just gotten back into the rhythm of school and readjusting to college life- my apologies.  But this is worth the wait! They are Rocky Road brownies.  A light cakey brownie with marshmallows, chopped pecans or walnuts, and chocolate chips. 

I spontaneously made these two nights before I left home, I knew I needed one last hoorah before my baking days would soon be limited.  They take basically no time at all if you have the ingredients handy.

Another note: The brownies will probably take longer or shorter than indicated depending on your oven and they will still seem a little of gooey when you take them out.  Keep in mind that this is due to the marshmallows that you have added.  Once it is removed from the oven let it cool and it should solidify nicely. 

I am happy to see that I am continuing to gain more and more views and interest via Pinterest, Google, and Facebook so thank you so much to all of my supporters who have helped me along the way and continue to check in with "Ever So Sweet" on a regular basis.  You guys are so awesome!

I never actually was much of a fan of Rocky Road ice cream... shoot me now, I know.  I was more of a cookie dough or mint chocolate chip kind of gal but nevertheless I will not argue with these brownies.  Especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side they are quite marvelous.

Ingredients:

This recipe makes one 9x9 square of brownies. 

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
35-50 mini marshmallows
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions: 

Start off my preheating the oven to 350 and lining your 9x9 square pan with aluminum foil.
Melt 4 oz. of chocolate and butter in the microwave in 30 seconds intervals, stirring in between.
Whisk the flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl small bowl.
In an electric mixer combine eggs, sugar, and salt.  Beat on high speed until it turns thick, pale yellow, and has increased a decent amount in volume (about 2-3 minutes). 
Pour in the butter/chocolate mixture and fold in with a spatula. 
Sift the flour mixture in, while folding again with the spatula and being careful not to overmix.
Pour the batter into the foil lined pan.

Distribute the chopped walnuts (or pecans), chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows over the surface.  

Poke the mini marshmallows into the batter with a fork or finger so that just the top is visible. 
Bake 25-35 minutes (make sure to keep an eye on this before you reach the time limit, a toothpick inserted should come out cooked but not necessarily clean).
Once it is done cooking, allow to cool completely before cutting and consuming!

This recipe was developed from a cookies, bars, and brownies cookbook that my Aunt gave me for the holidays- very sweet of her!

Enjoy your weekend and Happy almost Valentines Day! 
P.S. Happy Baking!

Cupcake Decorating Party and Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

My sisters birthday is on the 21st of December and so close to Christmas so we usually try to have her birthday party after the holiday craze is over.  

She came up, all on her own, with the idea of having a cupcake decorating party! We got adorable take away boxes, which fit 4 cupcakes perfectly so each of her friends could take their creations home.

I spent the night before making 48 cupcakes, half of which were vanilla and half of which were chocolate. 

I also made chocolate and vanilla cream cheese frosting and filled four separate pastry bags with the frosting so all the girls could be decorating at the same time!

We had a wide array of candies, sprinkles, and chocolate chips to decorate the cupcakes!

Here are just a few of the extra cupcakes that I decided to decorate with the left over heath bar, chocolate chips, and frosting!

Have any of you had the peppermint Oreo's from Trader Joes? They are SO good!  For ten of the vanilla cupcakes I placed an Oreo in the bottom of the cupcake liner before filling it with the batter.  I put chocolate cream cheese frosting on the top of these and they were delish.  Here is a photo of one of them: 

I used store bought cake mixtures for the cupcakes but made the frosting from scratch.  

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter (at room temp, but still cool)
8 oz. cream cheese (chilled)
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream

Cream butter in an electric mixer slightly for about a minute and then add in the cream cheese and mix together until combined. 

Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar until it gets fluffy (don't worry it will be a bit clumpy for a few minutes but just continue to mix on medium speed). 

Start by adding one tablespoon of heavy whipping cream and beating for 1 minute (add more if it is not the consistency you are looking for). 

Make sure to keep it refrigerated once you're done!

For chocolate cream cheese frosting add 1/4-1/2 cup of good quality cocoa powder before adding the vanilla and powdered sugar and incorporate fully!

This party was really fun and all the girls loved it! Happy Baking!