Black Bottom Goodness

I tasted my first ever black bottom cupcake when I baked up a batch several months ago. The earlier version was covered in chocolate glaze and known by another name, cream cheese-stuffed chocolate cupcakes. From that first cupcake I knew I was a fan. Chocolate, cake in the form of a cupcake, and cream cheese, what isn't to love? This recipe got rave reviews on allrecipes, and truly couldn't have been easier. The recipe as it appears on allrecipes yields twice as much cream cheese filling as it does cake batter, so through trial I ended up making two batches of cake batter. Next time? I'll just make one double batch. Even with a double batch of cupcake batter, which ends up with about 30 cupcakes you still have a generous amount of filling in each cupcake. They were delish the first day, but after refrigerating them over night I thought they were even better. I don't know what it is, but something about cold chocolate cake, all moist and dense, it's hard to resist. Yum! Black Bottom Cupcakes Filling 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 egg 1/3 cup white sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips Cake Batter 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 cup water 2/3 cup vegetable oil 2 tablespoon cider vinegar 2 teaspoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin tins with paper cups or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, 2 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Stir together until well blended. Fill muffin tins 1/2 full with the batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

How the cookie really crumbles

Perhaps you might call me a connoisseur of cookies, or maybe I'm just picky? Either way I know what I like and I often have very specific expectations when it comes to cookies, especially chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies! Over the last few months I've experimented with several chocolate chip cookie recipes. And thought I'd found the one with when I tested out the Alton Brown recipe known as "The Chewy". Well, as fate would have it - yes I believe in fate, even when it comes to food! I stumbled upon a recipe on allrecipes.com, the ratings were pretty darn high with stellar reviews, so I just had to see if this cookie lived up to all the hype, and believe me, it did! Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 egg 1 egg yolk 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely These cookies tout themselves as being "the pinniacle of perfection!," and as the type of cookie that you will find in bakeries and specialty shops. I agree 100%! I've made multiple batches and been so happy with each batch that I now keep a container of the unbaked dough in my freezer.

The holidays are here: SHF/IMBB Cookie Swap

I know Christmas is the season of giving. It's not about the presents & what cool gifts we get. But Lord forgive me for saying this, Christmas is also the season of eating. Then again, what season isn't a season of eating for a food obsessed person like me? lol So I started my holiday baking brainstorming sessions well before Thanksgiving, as a matter of fact, I think I started as soon as the first Christmas editions of my favorite magazines hit the stands. So far this year, I've bought 2 "special interest publications" from BH&G, a Christmas edition Family Circle & the infamous Martha Stewart "Holiday Cookies" issue. Believe me, I've got my eye on a few more..lol Do you think I will ever end up baking even a fourth of the yummy items in these magazines?? NO!! As a matter of fact, for the most part, I'll probably stick to my usual holiday cookies. But it's fun to daydream about all those yummy smells & delicious flavors. MmMmMmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. lol Of course, we've established my obvious obsession with food and baking. So you know I was thrilled when I read that this month's edition of Sugar High Friday is a joint project between Jennifer over at Domestic Goddess, and Alberto over at Il Forno. They came up with a WONDERFUL idea for this month's SHF/IMBB - a virtual cookie swap!! Isn't that fantastic?? It gives everyone a great excuse to get a jump on their holiday cookie baking, testing out new recipes a few weeks in advance. Not to mention the swap is a fantastic way to get new holiday cookie recipes, with reveiws to go along with them. For those of us in the US, the swap has fallen on a pretty hectic week for many of us - Thanksgiving!! It hasn't been too crazy for me, but the fact of the matter is, we have TONS upon TONS of leftovers and mulitple batches of cookies would just go to waste for us right now. So for the actual cookie swap I have only baked 1 new recipe. BUT!!! I'm including my recipe for the best homemade chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted. I LOVE chocolate, pretty obvious from previous posts right?? Yes!! lol And I LOVE marshmellow stuffed inside most anything chocolate, so I found the perfect recipe for me as I was flipping the pages of MS's Holiday cookies magazine. There they were on pg. 89 in all their "cakey and tender" glory - Surprise Cookies. Ohmygosh!! These cookies are divine!! And I'm soooo proud they came out looking JUST LIKE MARTHA's!!! My only complaint?? You can't really taste the marshmellow. Would I make them again?? In a heartbeat!! Surprise Cookies ~ makes 2 1/2 dozen For the cookies: 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder(not Dutch-process) 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp coarse salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1 cup granulated sugar 1 large egg 1/2 whole milk 1 tsp vanilla extract About 15 marshmellows halved crosswise For the frosting: 3 cups confectioners' sugar 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder(not Dutch-process) 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp whole milk 3/4 tsp vanilla extract 1. Make cookies: Preheat over to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda & salt into medium bowl; set aside. Put butter & sugar into bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on medium high speed until pale & fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk & vanilla. Mix in flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until combined. 2. Using a 1 3/4 inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until firm, 8-10 minutes. Immediately press a marshmellow half on top of each cookie. Bake until marshmellows begin to melt, 2 minutes more. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. 3. Make frosting: Put confectioners' sugar in medium bowl; set aside. Melt butter with cocoa powder in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occassionally. Add butter mixture to confectioners' sugar. Whisk in milk and vanilla. Spread about 1 Tbsp of frosting on top of each cookie to cover marshmellow. Let stand until set, about 10 minutes. Cookies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 days. Now..on to the best homemade chocolate chip cookies ever!! Move over Mrs. Fields here I come..using your recipe..lol I know we've all seen those copcat recipes right?? Well, I think this one really is because when I eat one of these cookies fresh from the oven, if I close my eyes I swear I'm standing in the middle of the mall foodcourt loaded down with arms full of shopping bags. Ahhh heaven isn't it? lol Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe