Winner Update! The random calculator chose number 47, which was Misie! Her suggestion for a cozy meal:

Thanks everyone for playing!
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I. Can’t. Get. Warm.

Yesterday I spent most of the day on the couch–under a pile of blankets–contemplating if I should turn on the heat or not. I didn’t.

Saturday night I spent 2 hours watching Hugo (so beautiful–especially in 3D!) just straight freezing.

Friday was the last day I was warm. I was in sweats and colorful socks, baking up these scones (and various other treats!); which lead me to the realization: If it’s cold out, head to the kitchen. Grab your baking sheets, pre-heat your oven. You’ll be warm in no time. Guaranteed.

Now, let’s talk scones!! And this giveaway!!

This scone recipe comes from Pam Anderson’s new book, Cook without a Book: Meatless Meals: Recipes and Techniques for Part-Time and Full-Time Vegetarians.

Phew! What a title.

This book will do just as promised–teach you to cook without a book.

The entire book provides you with basic recipes for everything from breakfast foods (see: scones!) to soups and salads, along with ideas to change the recipes depending on your taste or what is available to you.

After you master each recipe or technique, you’ll be able to put the book away (or reach for it only for reference) and cook…without a book! Genius!

COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY DEETS!

Leave a comment below answering the question:

“What do you eat when you’re cold?” Let’s talk cozy food!

Winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday, December 7th at noon.

Thanks to Pam and Maggy for this awesome giveaway! YAY!

Orange and Chocolate Scones

Print this recipe!

2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon orange zest (from 1 orange)
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, frozen solid
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg
2 teaspoons turminado sugar

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle positition and preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or nonstick liner.

Mix the flour, 6 tablespoons of the sugar, the baking powder, salt, baking soda, and orange zest in a medium bowl. Grate one-third of the butter into the flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; toss to coat with the flour. Repeat grating and tossing twice more. Using your fingertips, work the butter and flour together a bit more. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Mix the sour cream and egg with a fork until smooth. Stir the sour cream mixture into the dry ingredients with the fork until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the side of the bowl to form a ball. (There may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together. If necessary, flick a little water into the bottom of the bowl to get the last bits to adhere.) Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat into a 7 1/2-inch round about 3/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with the turminado sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 wedges. Place the wedges about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Bake until golden, 15 to 17 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Recipe by Pam Anderson from Cook Without A Book: Meatless Meals

What’s uuuuuuup?!

Oh what am I doing, you ask?

Nothing much…just plugged away this weekend…curing big world problems…like the issue of how to get Rocky Road in your face (sans Rocky Road ice cream). Were you aware this was an issue? It totally WAS. Don’t worry; I figured it out.

First way: this milkshake. Sure you can use rocky road ice cream. I realize this. But then you wouldn’t have toasted marshmallow. And really that’s the whole thing about this milkshake. I was totally in it for the burnt marshmallows.

Then there are these Rocky Road cookies. Chocolate making out with chocolate, walnuts and marshmallows all folded in. Ma-jor.

Cookies first, shall we?

These things had melted chocolate (whaaaa?!) combined with the wet ingredients: eggs, sugar, vanilla. And then gently mixed with the dry ingredients.

It’s more of a brownie batter than a typical cookie dough. Totally a good thing.

You’re gonna fold in some walnuts, small marshmallows and more chocolate.

I used semi-sweet chocolate because I’m kind of anti-overly sweet.

I also scaled down the sugar in the recipe below because I knew we were adding marshmallows and more chocolate. If you have a major sweet tooth, add a 1/2 more cup of sugar to the wet ingredients bowl.

My first batch spread a bit too much for me. They were still delicious but they were kind of ugly. We aiming for cuteness here.

I stuck the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes just to firm it up. Problemo solved.

These cookies aren’t too sweet. The walnuts give it amazing texture. They’re soft and chewy, like brownies, with crisp edges. The marshmallows give it even more chewiness. And the chocolate on chocolate makes them super rich and delicious.

This all means you’ll need milk. Lots of milk.

If you don’t want to deal with the oven and bowls and mixing and flour, yet you still want Rocky Road…this milkshake is what you gotta do.

It comes together in about 5 minutes; like any good milkshake does, really.

I toasted some marshmallows over the gas range, threw everything in a blender and topped it off with a few more toasted marshmallows.

Hello!!! Life is beautiful, isn’t it?!

In other news:

And also:

Rocky Road Milkshake

Print these recipes!

5 big marshmallows, divided
1/2 cup of milk of choice
5-6 scoops of chocolate ice cream
Handful of walnuts, chopped

On a skewer, over a gas range, toast 3 marshmallows. Add to blender, along with all of the ingredients and blend just until combined. You want the milkshake kind of thick. Toast remaining marshmallows and top as garnish.

Rocky Road Cookies

adapted from Martha Stewart

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces good-quality milk chocolate, 4 ounces coarsely chopped, 4 ounces cut into 1/4-inch chunks
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup small marshmallows
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Melt coarsely chopped chocolate with the butter in a small heatproof bowl set over a small pot of simmering water.

Transfer chocolate mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (Note: I did it in a bowl with a stand-up mixer and it worked just fine). Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix on medium speed until combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chunks, marshmallows and walnuts.

Transfer batter to the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or until slightly firm. Scoop batter using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop; place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces begin to crack, about 15 minutes. Transfer on parchment to wire racks. Let cool 5 minutes. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Hi! I have a weekend project for you: Ding Dongs. Yeah, it’s like that.

Nothing complicated about them…maybe a little time consuming…maybe just a tad. Nothing too major, though.

Can I walk you through it? Let’s do this together. #teamwork2011

You’ll need some wax paper and a pencil. And some scissors. I like feeling crafty in the kitchen. You’ll want to place them on the bottom of the cake pans (and grease them) since this batter is a little sticky.

Brew some strong, hot coffee and pour it over chocolate. The chocolate will melt and basically make an amazing mocha situation. This is good.

Per usual, there’s the typical flour, cocoa, dry ingredients sifting that’s necessary. Then there’s the wet mixture thing and you have to combine the two. Easy peasy. Bake them and you’ll be met with two gorgeous looking cakes:

While the cakes are cooling, you’ll want to make the ganache and 7-minute marshmallow filling. Both easy. Messy but easy.

This is when the fun begins! Take a biscuit cutter and cut out as many circles as you can. You can use the scraps for cake pops.

P.S. You can actually freeze them for later since you’ll have ding dongs, and in my opinion they kind of taste better than cake pops.

Flip the cake cut-out over, and taking a knife (or smaller cutter), cut out a smaller hole in the center. Set the cut out aside. Fill the center with the marshmallow frosting…

And replace the hole. See!

Gently turn it over, and using a pastry brush, lay on the ganache. I placed mine on a baking sheet (lined with parchment) and stuck it in the fridge to set.

Since this lacks all the chemicals, they’ll be messy when you eat them. But that’s the good part, right?

xo
Adrianna

Homemade Ding Dongs

Recipe slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Beantown Baker

Yields 15 ding dongs

Print this recipe!

2 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate
1 cups hot brewed coffee
2 cups sugar
1 2/3 cups flour
1 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
1 1/3 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 300°F. and grease pans. Line bottoms of 2 10-inch round cake pans with wax paper and grease paper. If you don’t have 10-inch cake pans, you can make 2 9-inch cake pans and a dozen cupcakes.

Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored. Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well.

Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.

Seven Minute Frosting

Recipe from Epicurious

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

In large metal bowl, whisk together 1/3 cup water, sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt. Set bowl over pan of barely simmering water and mix with handheld electric mixer at low speed. Gradually increase speed to high, beating until mixture holds stiff peaks, about 5 minutes.

Transfer bowl from pan to folded kitchen towel on counter and continue beating until mixture is cool and billowy, about 2 minutes more. Beat in vanilla. (Frosting can be made 4 hours ahead and chilled, covered.)

Ganache
Recipe from BeantownBaker

1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
12 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped into 1/2-ounce pieces

Heat the heavy cream and the butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil.

Place the semisweet chocolate in a 3-quart stainless steel bowl. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth.

Assembly

Once the cake layers have cooled completely, use a small round cookie cutter to cut small circles of cake out of the layers. Enjoy the scraps or save them for cake balls.

Using the cone method, scoop out a small portion of cake from each circle. Fill with 7-minute frosting and replace top of cake.

Using a pastry brush or spoon, cover individual cakes with ganache. Allow ganache to completely set up before serving.

I don’t drink coca-cola. But I do eat it. Weird. Yeah, I dunno.

It’s way better eaten. Let’s take a look, shall we?

There’s some dark and white sugar cooked with dark dutch processed cocoa powder…and a can of coke! Your kitchen will smell all sorts of delicious.

There’s some the ol’ that pouring into this and this pouring into that. No biggie.

There’s some mixing. No equipment needed. This is an old school kind of recipe.


Take a little PAM and spray the liners–this is a sticky cupcake batter. Then the usual 3/4 of the way fill up in your cupcake liners.

UPDATED TIP ALERT: A few of you tried this recipe and sprayed them and the cupcake still stuck. Using foil liners should fix this problem. If you don’t have ‘em just know that the cupcake will stick a little. They’re still awesome.

These cupcakes are chocolately, decadent, rich and kind of amaze. There’s just a hint of coca-cola flavor. It’s not super obvious. But despite this, it’s MA-JOR.

This frosting isn’t frosting–it’s just whipped cream. I had plans on a coca-cola buttercream, but my inability to plan properly (read: leave the butter out), forced me to improvise.

And guess what? I kinda dig whipped cream as frosting. I might be doing this mistake on purpose next time.

Next, cherries on top!

P.S. Why are maraschino cherries so cute looking, but so gross tasting. WHY? Someone needs to fix that.

Coca-Cola Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Baked: The New Frontier

Yields 15 cupcakes

Print this recipe!

Cupcakes:
2 cups Coca-cola (do not use diet!)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

Whipped Cream Frosting:

1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoons of powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Maraschino cherries (for topping)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously spray the inside of the cupcake liners with nonstick cooking spray.

In a small saucepan, heat the Coca-cola, cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy–do not overbeat, as it could cause the cake to be tough.

Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake liners/tin and bake for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a small skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

In a medium bowl, beat whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until medium peaks form. Transfer to pastry bag with a 5B star tip. In a circular motion, pipe on whipped cream and top with one cherry.

Hi!

I made you doughnuts…and friendship bracelets. Let’s be friends.

Before I go any further, let me preface this post by apologizing to any boys that read this blog. If you are a boy and do read this blog, please say hi…please? Because I really have no idea you exist. If you don’t say hi then this blog is inevitably going to turn even more girly and I might lose you forever. Sadface nation.

I digress…Are you guys on Pinterest? Whenever I want to fall in a hole of procrastination–which is really often–that’s where I head. It’s my fav place to find new recipes, fashion stuff, and cute pictures of dogs/cats. Recently, I found a tutorial on how to make chevron patterned friendship bracelets. I’ve been wanting to carve out a whole morning to tackle this project for what feels like forever.

Yesterday I woke up obscenely early (why can’t I sleep in anymore? is this what happens when you get old?!) and the super gloomy weather convinced me that it was the perfect time to make friendship bracelets as I waited for the dough (for doughnuts!) to rise.

Yay for multi-tasking!

There are a few things to get prepped: yeast with milk and sugar; beaten eggs; and melted cooled butter.

Add the beaten eggs to the melted butter. In a large bowl, add egg/butter mixture and the yeast mixture and combine thoroughly.

Add the flour 1/4 cup at a time. And mix. 

When all the flour is incorporated, drop it on the counter and knead it for 5-8 minutes or until smooth.

Pour a little canola oil on top and cover with a towel.  Put it on the counter in a warm place…and then…friendship bracelet time!! 

Head to Michael’s or Jo-Ann’s Fabric and buy a bunch of embroidery thread in a variety of colors that you think might look cute together.

You’ll want to cut two-24 inch pieces of each color.  Tie a knot toward the top (leaving a couple inches of slack ) and arrange them so the colors mirror one another.

If you take a look below, you’ll see the order (from the outside): blue, green, orange, pink and cream.  I know this might sound crazy but write the order on a piece of paper. The string will get mixed up when you’re doing all the forward knots and writing the order down will help.

Start with the first string on the left side and make a forward knot twice.  A forward knot looks like the number 4.

Continue with the other colors of string until it reaches the very center. Do you see the blue in the very middle and the blue at the very right?

Take the far right string and do a reverse forward knot…or a backward knot. Whatever you want to call it.

It’ll look like a backwards number 4. Do this twice to each piece of string until it reaches the center.

When you have the two strings that are identical, do a forward knot twice. Everything is knotted twice, always.

Then just keep going…until you’re completely done.

P.S. Since I’m DIY challenged, I totally watched this youtube video and found it super helpful to see the process continuously.

After two hours, you should have a few one friendship bracelet.  And the dough should be completely risen.

Take a peak and check!

Punch it down, roll it out on a floured counter to about an inch thickness and cut out your doughnuts.  I used a 2.5 doughnut cutter.

Place on a floured baking sheet and cover with a towel for an hour. This will be their last and final rise.

Heat up some oil to 350F.  Typically I eyeball stuff like this but for this recipe it was super important to use a candy thermometer.

While I was waiting, I made some chocolate glaze.

After they were fried up, I dipped them in the chocolate glaze.

For pro step-by-step pictures, take a look at PW’s post. It’s helpful and awesome.

Lastly, I like you…has this post convinced you so?

Homemade Doughnuts

Recipe by The Pioneer Woman

Yields 18 doughnuts

Print this recipe!

Doughnuts:

1-⅛ cup Whole Milk, Warm

¼ cups Sugar

2-¼ teaspoons (one Package) Instant Or Active Dry Yeast

2 whole Large Eggs, Beaten

1-¼ stick Unsalted Butter, melted

4 cups All-purpose Flour

¼ teaspoons Salt

Canola Oil

Chocolate Glaze:

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 tablespoon of whole milk

1/4 tablespoon of light corn syrup

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

To Make the Dough:

1. Make sure milk is nice and warm, but not overly hot.
2. Add sugar to milk. Stir to dissolve.
3. Add yeast into a small bowl.
4. Pour milk/sugar mixture over yeast. Stir gently, then let sit for 10 minutes.
5. Melt butter in separate bowl until butter is almost melted. Stir to finish melting so butter won’t be overly hot.
6. Add beaten eggs to melted butter, stirring constantly to make sure the butter’s not too hot for the eggs.
7. Add the egg/butter mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.
8. With the mixer on 3 or medium-low speed, pour in the yeast mixture.
9. Allow the dough hook to stir this mixture for a couple of minutes, making sure it’s thoroughly combined.
10. With the mixer still going, add helpings of the flour mixture in 1/4 to 1/2 cup increments until all the flour is gone.
11. Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl, then turn the mixer on the same speed for five whole minutes.
12. After five minutes, stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl.
13. Turn on the mixer for 30 seconds.
14. Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to sit in the bowl undisturbed for 10 minutes.
15. After 10 minutes, transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Toss the dough to coat, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place straight in the fridge.
16. Refrigerate dough for at least 8 hours, or overnight.

To Make the Doughnuts:

1. Remove bowl from fridge and turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface.
2. Roll out to 1/4 to 1/3-inch thickness.
3. Using a 3-inch cutter (Note: I used a 2.5–this doesn’t matter. Boring.), cut as many rounds as you can, then roll out remaining dough and cut as much as you can, etc.
4. Cut holes out of each round using a 1 1/2-inch cutter.
5. Place both doughnuts and holes on a floured baking sheet.
6. Cover with large tea towel and place in a warm place in your kitchen; my kitchen is very drafty, so I have to briefly warm the griddle, then turn it off and set the sheets on top to keep warm.
7. Allow doughnuts to rise undisturbed for at least 1 hour; 1 hour 15 minutes if necessary. Doughuts should be visibly puffier and appear to be airy.

To Fry the Dougnuts

1. Heat plenty of canola oil in a large pot until the temperature reaches 375 to 380 degrees—do not let it get hotter than 380 degrees! 375 is ideal; keep the thermometer in the pan to continually monitor.
2. One to two at a time, gently grab doughnuts and ease them into the hot oil. Allow them to cook 1 minute on each side; they will brown very quickly.
3. Remove doughnuts from the oil with a slotted spoon, allowing all oil to drip off.
4. Place doughnut immediately on several layers of paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over onto a clean part of the paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over again; the purpose, obviously, is to drain as much grease as possible before it soaks into the doughnut.
5. Repeat with remaining doughnuts and holes. The holes will cook more quickly than the doughnuts; about 30 seconds per side.
6. Allow doughnuts to slightly cool.

To Make Chocolate Glaze

1. Combine first three ingredients in a medium saucepan.  When the butter is melted, take the heat to low and add the chocolate.  Stir until the chocolate is completely melted.  Turn off the heat and add the powdered sugar and combine until it’s smooth.  If you’re not using it right away, you can place it over a double-boiler.

Happy Wednesday, beautiful people.

Factoid for you: Getting my car serviced stresses me.

To deal, I totally made Churro Tots. Throw in stress eating and calls to dad, and it some how made everything okay. I encourage it!

Last week I went to a cookbook release party at Border Grill and they had churros…in tot form! I was blown away by their cuteness–had to replicate it stat for you all.

I basically made a tweaked and adjusted version of this pate a choux recipe. And then fried small balls of the dough. It was a breeze. Messy, but a breeze.

I’m not a really clean cook. I’m not super organized.  But I’m sure you knew this. Being organized with this recipe is kind of a must.

I know I know, you’re probably thinking: “Organized, schmorganized.” But it’ll make your life a whole lot easier. Let’s talk about it. Let’s get through it together.

Get your dry ingredients together in small prep bowls: AP flour, cinnamon, sugar and salt.

Wet ingredients: eggs, butter and water. 

Put oil in your cast iron or dutch oven. 

Grab a baking sheet, line it with some paper towels. Get a plate ready with the sugar and cinnamon (not pictured bc I’m an idiot).  Make sure you have some sort of strainer, too.

And then go to town. It’s easy. Cook up the batter.  Add the eggs. Fry ‘em up. Drain ‘em. Roll ‘em in sugar and cinnamon.

Crunchy and crispy on the outside; light and fluffy on the inside. Totally dreamy. 

Whip up some whipped cream and melt some chocolate…then do some dipping action. It’s necessary. 

Churro Tots

Recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan

Print this recipe!

Vegetable oil for frying

1 cup water

1 stick (4 ounces) butter

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

3 eggs & 2 egg whites

For dusting:

3 tablespoons of cinnamon and sugar, mixed

Prepare to fry the churros by heating about 1 1/2 inches of oil in a deep pan.  The oil should be about 360 degrees F.

To make the dough, bring the water, butter, cinnamon and salt to a rolling boil in a 3-quart saucepan.  Stir in the flour all at once.  Reduce the heat to low and stir vigorously until the mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute.  Remove the pan from the heat.

Let the batter sit for 5 minutes to cool.

When it’s warm (not hot) to the touch, add one egg at a time. Keep stirring until the mixture comes together and is smooth.  (You can do this in a mixer with a paddle attachment if you’ve already had your daily workout.) Note: Since it was way too dry for me, I added 2 egg whites. It was then perfect.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.  Have sterilized scissors on hand.  Hold the bag over the hot oil, squeeze a strip of dough about 1 inches long, snip it with the scissors and let it drop into the oil.  Fry 10 to 12 balls at a time, turning once, until golden brown, about 2 minutes on a side.  Drain on paper towels.  Roll the churro tots in the sugar/cinnamon and serve immediately.  These are really best minutes after they’ve been fried.

Serve with whipped cream and/or melted chocolate.

I have had a decidedly not-cute week. First, I got a cold. The first morning with said cold I was out attempting to walk my dog when I tripped and fell in a HUGE puddle. So, so not cute. Oh, and to the guy that that was stopped at the intersection and drove off WITHOUT helping me: I understand that you were probably paralyzed with laughter and couldn’t get out of your car, but help a girl out next time, okay? I of course got up and tried to pass the other dog-walkers like nothing was amiss. As if I typically spend all of my morning walks dripping water from half my body.

Then I went to work. You know what you do at work when your nose is stuffed up with a cold? You mouth breathe. You ever really though about how not-cute mouth breathing is? Very. Especially when you zone out in front of your computer and have an empty glaze over your eyes while doing it. Seriously people, this is reason alone to stay home from work when you’re sick.

Yesterday I tried to buy myself some new lip stain from Sephora to pull myself out of this not-cute funk. I succeeded only in getting bright pink lip stain on my jeans. I’ve now accepted that  it’s just not happening this week.

However, I do have these cookies. These cookies are really cute, and full of Easter fun. And, they have Cadbury milk chocolate eggs in them, which cures all. Even this stupid cold.

Chocolate Chip Easter Egg Cookies

Print this recipe!

Chocolate chip cookie recipe adapted from Better Homes and Garden

1/2 cup  shortening
1/2 cup  butter
1/2 cup  granulated sugar
1 cup  packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon  baking soda
2 eggs
1 teaspoon  vanilla
2-1/2 cups  all-purpose flour
1 cup  semisweet chocolate pieces
1 cup Cadbury milk chocolate eggs, broken into pieces

In a large mixing bowl beat the shortening and butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and baking soda. Beat mixture until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Stir in chocolate pieces and broken egg bits.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool. Makes about 60 cookies.

Hi! It’s Valentine’s Day.

When I had a boy, I was a fan of Valentine’s Day.  I mean…it’s kind of an awesome holiday. Cooking, chocolate, flowers. HELLO! Cuteness everywhere.

But if you don’t have a boy/girl…it can be kind of annoying, right? Annoying. But don’t worry! Adrianna to the rescue, because this milkshake is for the single girl. No boy, no friend, no dog needed. Just halve the recipe. Done and done.

Umm…I have a question: while we’re talking about boys, relationships and wuv, uhh…how do you exactly meet boys? Are people meeting each other on the internet nowadays? Is that what the kids are doing these days? Because that’s just kinda scary. I’m too shy for that business.

I mean, I’d just end up internet stalking the shiz out of them well before going out on a date; learning all sorts of stuff I should not know about a person I don’t actually know.

And then when we’re at dinner he’d tell me about his two sisters, and since I’m a bad liar, I’d shake my head “unknowingly” remembering that trip him and his sisters went on to Costa Rica that I saw on Facebook due to his bad privacy settings. This would happen. Awkward. Ugh! The idea of dating makes me so super sleepy.

That’s why I’ve decided to go out to dinner with Teri (here) to eat one of the best cheeseburgers in LA.  And then I’m gonna come home, put my snowflake pajamas, watch more Breaking Bad (new obsession) and make this milkshake.

Wait, is that depressing? I don’t know anymore.

Anyway, this milkshake has everything that an Almond Joy has: chocolate (ice cream), crushed almonds, shredded coconut, more coconut in the form of milk/cream and regular milk. Amazing! Fun! Cute!

The recipe below calls for this business called cream of coconut (brand: coco lopez), but since I couldn’t find it, I used coconut creamer. Worked juuuust fine. You would make me really  happy if you made this for your best friend, boyfriend, ladyfriend, husband, child or yourself.

By the way, I have a crush on all of you. Have I told you I’m shy?

Okay. Bye.

xo

Adrianna

Almond Joy Milkshake

Yields 2 milkshakes

Print this recipe!

Recipe by Spike Mendelson via Design Sponge

1 cup milk

1/4-1/2 cup cream of coconut (coco lopez) (I used coconut creamer)

1/2 cup coconut flakes

2 cups creamy chocolate ice cream

1/2 cup crushed almonds

In a food processor put 1/2 cup almonds. process till finely chopped and set aside.

In a blender, pour milk, coconut cream, 1/4 cup of the ground almonds, coconut flakes,  ice cream. Pulse for 1 minute, or until barely combined. Note: If you like your milkshakes, slightly thicker (like I do), I’d recommend going with 1/4 of coconut creamer. And then just play with the consistency a little.

Pour in large glasses and top with a spoonful or two of crushed almonds.

Okay, I know that Valentine’s day is coming up, and maybe you guys out there are trying to think of what to buy your special lady friend. Here’s a hint: she wants some chocolate. Even if she says she doesn’t, she wants some chocolate. Her resistance is coming from the fact that she doesn’t want an extra pound of weight to squeeze into her jeans. That just isn’t any fun.

You know what would make you a rock star? Chocolate that won’t add on the pounds. Chocolate that she can eat a big bowl of. Or even…go for seconds. And, you’re gonna make it yourself. We’re talking triple brownie points.

Don’t worry, this is easy. All you have to do is throw some ingredients into a blender. Yeah, you can handle it. And don’t be concerned about the flavor – nothing about this will make you think of anything remotely like tofu. It tastes like nothing short of a decadently rich pudding. With spices. On Valentine’s Day, it’s a good thing to add some spice.

Here’s the thing, you probably shouldn’t tell her it’s made with tofu. No matter how you say it, tofu just isn’t a romantic word. Even if you say it with a French accent. Trust me, I tried. Just tell her that this is good chocolate. Healthy chocolate. Remind her that you made it yourself. All of these things sound better than the word tofu.

Mexican Chocolate Tofu Pudding

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Adapted from Mark Bittman

I substituted the sugar for honey in this version of the recipe and didn’t miss it one bit. Important note – do NOT skimp on the quality of the chocolate. If you buy cheap chocolate, it’s not going to taste good.

Also – if you’re not sure about the spices, this still tastes great when they’re omitted.

Serves 4

1 pound silken tofu

1 cup high-quality semi sweet or dark chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup honey

¼ cup water

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon chili powder

In a small bowl, microwave the chocolate chips for 30 seconds. Stir with a spatula and then microwave again for another 30 seconds. Repeat this process until the chips are completely melted through.

Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until the mixture is completely smooth and free of lumps. Portion out into 4 pudding cups and allow to chill for about and hour before serving.

It took me exactly three tries to get home to my parent’s place in Florida.

(Really long story. But I did in fact miss my flight…as I stood near the gate.  Like I said, realllly long story. The tale involves an ear infection and Delta not being so nice. The end.)

But I’m home now, sitting by the Christmas tree sipping on this Spiced Hot Chocolate, so it’s all good.  And tomorrow’s Christmas! And I’m done with all my shopping and presents are wrapped; now the only thing on my to-do list is to make The Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls.

Have you made them? Do you have tips? I need ‘em!! Did you add chocolate to them? I’m considering it…

I’ve decided to cut the recipe in half, since I don’t need 50 cinnamon rolls in my life right now. New Year’s is soon and I need to fit into something besides my pjs.

Can we talk Spiced Hot Chocolate? Can I also admit how I sorta still love Swiss Miss? I kinda loved the crunchy marshmallows! Is that gross?

Probably…especially when you put it up to this decadent, rich, amazingness.

This was initially supposed to be a Chai Hot Chocolate, but I couldn’t find cardamon at the store, so it quickly turned into Adrianna-improvising-hot-chocolate.  And guess what?! It turned out great!!

It has allspice pods (which I cracked), cinnamon sticks, bittersweet chocolate, a little milk chocolate, and good amount of freshly ground nutmeg.

I threw it in a saucepan and let it simmer for a bit and let it steep…

Then poured it through a strainer…

And got my brother to torch up some marshmallows. He LOVED doing this. Something about dudes and fire. They love it. Weird.

Merry Christmas!

xo,

Adrianna

Spiced Hot Chocolate

Yields 2 servings

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2 cups of milk (your choice if you want low-fat)

1/4 cup of bittersweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup of milk chocolate chips

1/4 teaspoon of allspice pods, cracked

2 cinnamon sticks

1/8 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg

Marshmallows or Whipped Cream for serving

Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan (minus the marshmallows, of course) and bring to a low simmer while you whisk frequently.  If you would like it more chocolatey, add a bit more.

Take off heat and cover–steep for 5-10 minutes.  Strain hot chocolate and top with toasted marshmallows or whipped cream.  Yum!