2014 February Archive - Simple Everyday Food

red velvet whoopie pies

Posted by :Amy On : February 21, 2014

Tags:cake mix, cream cheese, dessert, red velvet, whoopie pies

I always seem to hop on the holiday baking train a few days late. Rarely do I ever find myself getting ahead of the game and baking things in anticipation of the upcoming holiday. Don’t ask why – it has always been a problem and I don’t think I plan on fixing that problem anytime soon. I have too many things to take care of, and right now baking ahead of schedule just isn’t as important as things such as studying for boards, spending time with family, working a full-time job, making sure everyone is fed and happy at the dinner table, and squeezing in time to run errands and do housework (I absolutely despise doing laundry).

[It’s soooo hard to work full-time and find time to cook, bake, photograph, edit, write, and post blog posts! I’m open to any advice, tips, and tricks anyone can give me!]

To me, this blog isn’t about making and posting a number of holiday desserts in anticipation of a holiday… don’t get me wrong, I admire (and am a little jealous of) all the talented food bloggers out there that are able to do so, and if I ever have the opportunity to make a full-time income off of SEF, I’d do it in a heartbeat. However, my current lifestyle simply does not allow such extensive food blog planning, so you guys will just have to put up with whatever my little heart felt like making at the moment… even if that means making Valentine-y red velvet desserts days and days after the holiday is over :)

So, about these whoopie pies.

I always like to think of whoopie pies as soft, puffy, big fat Oreos. Except these are thicker and softer than an Oreo cookie and has at least twice as much filling. And they’re soooo easy to make! I was itching to bake something the other day and just wanted a super simple recipe that didn’t require a long list of ingredients and a bunch of steps to follow. These really are not that complicated at all. The directions can be condensed into 6 simple steps:

1. Make cookies

(Oooh… those crinkles. I absolutely looooove crinkly cookies!!)

2. Bake cookies

3. Make filling

4. Pipe filling

5. Sandwich cookies

6. DEVOUR! (with a big glass of ice cold milk is highly recommended)

See? Simple. So simple that a monkey can do it. Okay, maybe not a monkey, but it is a really straight-forward recipe. l I even made these a “double stuffed” whoopie pie by generously piping the cream cheese frosting on BOTH cookies, because well, who doesn’t like extra frosting?! If you don’t have a piping bag, you can also just smear the frosting on the bottom of the cookies using a spoon, knife, spatula, or any kind of kitchen utensil you have handy before sandwiching them together.

I think I could’ve probably eaten the cookies by themselves without the cream cheese frosting – they were so soft and so moist and so good! They even remained soft and moist in an airtight container three days later! My favorite way of eating them was twisting them open and eating each half of the sandwich with a little bit of cookie and a little bit of frosting.

red velvet whoopie pies

2014-02-15 12:00:36

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For the cookies

One 16.25-oz box of red velvet cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil

For the frosting

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
Using an electric mixer, combine all the ingredients for the cookies until well mixed. Roll the cookie dough into dough balls 1" in diameter. Place dough balls ~2" apart and bake for 8 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies start to crack. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
While the cookies are cooling, make the frosting: combine the butter, cream cheese, milk, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Then add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, making sure the mixture is well-mixed in between each addition.
Spread a generous amount of frosting on the bottom of all the cookies*, and pair cookies up together, pressing gently to sandwich them together. Store an an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Makes about 13 cookies
*I spread the frosting on the cookies using a piping bag and a starred tip. If you don't have piping supplies, you can also simply spread the frosting onto the bottom of the cookies with a knife, offset spatula, a regular spatula, or whatever kitchen utensil you have handy.

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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Recipe adapted from Six Sisters’ Stuff

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.

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orange dark chocolate chip cookies

Posted by :Amy On : February 14, 2014

Category: Desserts

Tags:chocolate chips, cookies, dessert, oranges

It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for chocolate. Not just a plain old boring milk chocolate bar, mind you, but fancy dark chocolate with different flavors infused in it – mint chocolate, dark chocolate cherry, chai chocolate, birthday cake chocolate, coconut chocolate…. The kind where you have to spend more than $3.50 for a small little chocolate bar. Yeah, I’m fancy.

I especially loooove dark chocolate with a hint of orange – dark chocolate with bits and pieces of candied orange peels throughout – it really is a match made in heaven! Since it’s hard for me to get my hands on certain fancy brands, Lindt’s chocolates are one of my go-tos when I’m in the mood to indulge.

I see it as getting my daily vitamin C intake along with some antioxidants – it’s a win-win situation – no?

This cookie is kind of the opposite of what these candy bars are about. Instead of orange infused chocolate, it’s more of an orange cookie with a hint of chocolate. Instead of using regular chocolate chips, I used some 70% dark cacao chips instead to give the cookie a more intense dark chocolate flavor, that way you can eat a few without feeling like you’re going to slip into a sugar coma.

These cookies are soooo soft! They’re soft and moist. Not cakey, and not chewy either. Just soft. Like melt-in-your-mouth soft, thanks to the small amount of cream cheese added to the batter. One thing to note about these cookies is that when you mix everything together, the batter will be SUPER sticky. You’re probably going to think that something went wrong – nope! It’s just the way it is. And for that reason, I strongly suggest mixing everything together with a mixer… unless you’re trying to gain some arm strength – then more power to you, you overachievers.

orange chocolate chip cookies

2013-12-25 20:25:29

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Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3-oz low fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup 60% dark cocoa chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Add in the egg an mix until smooth. Add in the orange zest and vanilla, stir until incorporated. Slowly add in the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. The dough will be very sticky - this is normal! Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown slightly. Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Makes 16-18 cookies

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Taste and Tell Blog

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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Next time when I make these, I think I’m going to roughly chop up the dark chocolate chips prior to adding them into the batter. That way there will be more chocolate dispersed throughout the dough, and the chocolate will be nice and gooey and melty when you take them out of the oven.

Okay, I need to go find myself some chocolate now….

Recipe adapted from Taste and Tell Blog

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mint chocolate fudge

Posted by :Amy On : February 4, 2014

Category: Desserts

Tags:candy, chocolate, dessert, fudge, mint, no bake

If you haven’t heard, I was offered a brand spankin’ new full time job about a month ago and just started it this week ! I’m super ecstatic about it, as I wasn’t really expecting to be able to find a job (at a place I really wanted to work at) this fast, just a few weeks after graduation. Of course, I wasn’t able to do it without the help of some wonderful people I listed as my references. As far as I know, a few of them were contacted by this employer, and they must’ve wrote a bunch of nice things about me, and I’m forever grateful about it :)

This will be my first ever full-time big girl job, and I took the entire process very seriously (more than usual) – from the initial submission of my resume and cover letter, to the actual interview, and the thank you letters thereafter – I applied everything I have learned in my career capstone class and meticulously read and reread everything prior to hitting the “submit” button. I’m glad a little bit of networking and hard work pays off… I love it so far!

This whole journey really made me realize that no matter where you go in life and what big milestones you have achieved, you really can’t get there without the help of people along the way – whether they are friends, family, coworkers, or even strangers… many people played a part in this job hunting process, and even now, I feel just as grateful as I did the day I was offered the position.

Ever since I was little, my mom had ingrained in my brain that it is important to express your gratitude towards those that have helped you in life. And that’s why the day after I got this new job, I decided to make some sweets for those people who took time out of their busy schedules to write recommendation letters for me. I figured if they were kind enough to take time to write nice things about me, the least I can do is take time out of my day to make a little something to show them how much I appreciate their efforts.

I would’ve made cookies, but one of my references happened to be gluten free, which is why I decided to make fudge instead. I’ve never made fudge in my entire life before, but since it’s a new year, and new years are all about trying new things, I decided to give it a whirl. And since I’m still on this mint chocolate craze, mint chocolate fudge it was (it’s only my favorite chocolate combination, if you haven’t figured that out already).

These little fudge squares are just like giant Andes mints and they’re so easy to make! The bottom layer consists of sweet chocolate chips with condensed milk, followed by another fudgey layer of white chocolate chips, a little bit more condensed milk, peppermint extract, and a few drops of food coloring. The thin top chocolate layer has a nice little crunch, which contrasts nicely with the bottom two smooth velvety fudgey layers. Heaven, I tell ya.

I have never had luck with melting chocolate in the microwave or directly over a heat source. It just somehow never works for me, so for all chocolate-melting recipes, I always always always melt my chocolates using a makeshift double boiler over low heat – it heats the chocolate up a lot slower, but it also gives me less anxiety. I take it as a fair trade off.

If you’ve never made fudge (like me) before, I just want to warn you that when you melt the chocolate chips with the condensed milk, the mixture is going to be thick. I was expecting the mixture to be nice and smooth and runny like melted chocolate, but nooooo… it was thick. So thick that the only good utensil to stir it with is with a sturdy wooden spoon.. and that if you stir it constantly, your arm is going to get tired. I initially thought my chocolate had seized up on me, and I started to get very frustrated. Mind you this was at 9:30 a.m. and I’m pretty sure Brian decided to stay the heck away from the kitchen for the rest of the morning.

Moral of the story: chocolate chips + condensed milk = thick mixture (read: don’t freak out).

mint chocolate fudge

2014-01-18 12:56:35

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Ingredients

2.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
One 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk, divided
1.5 cups white chocolate chips
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
2-3 drops green food coloring
1 teaspoon shortening
1/2 cups Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips

Instructions

Line an 8x8" baking pan with aluminum foil and spray generously with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Using a double boiler, melt 1.5 cups of the semi-sweet chocolate chips with 3/4 cups of the sweetened condensed milk over low heat. Stir occasionally until smooth, then pour mixture into the baking pan. Spread mixture evenly (I used an offset spatula), and place in the fridge to chill.
While the chocolate mixture is chilling in the fridge, melt the white chocolate chips with the remaining sweetened condensed milk over a double boiler over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and add in the peppermint extract and green food coloring. Stir until the mixture is even in color, then pour mint layer evenly over chilled chocolate layer and place back into the refrigerator.
Melt the remaining 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and the shortening over a double boiler. Stir until smooth. Pour evenly over the mint layer, top generously with Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips, and chill in fridge for at least 3-4 hours until set.
Cut into small squares before serving and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Makes about 36 small squares

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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Even though I’m not a big fudge fanatic, everyone who were able to get their hands on a little piece of this decadent minty goodness all said it was phenomenal!

Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

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