Butterfinger Cookies

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 large egg
3 (2.1-ounce) Nestle Butterfinger Candy Bars, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375 deg F.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in egg; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in Butterfinger pieces. Drop by slightly rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 10-12 mins or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 mins; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 30.

Chocolate Cupcakes

This was originally a chocolate cake recipe contributed by Gwen Uy at yummy.ph. We decided to try making it into cupcakes to yield more servings. We were able to make around 36 to 40 cupcakes for one recipe. 

Like what the original recipe says, cooking the frosting takes a lot of time. It took us approximately an hour and twenty minutes to finish cooking the frosting alone. But it was worth all the time and effort. The frosting was absolutely delicious.

Here's the recipe:

For the cake base

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon coffee powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 cup butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 whole eggs

For the fudge frosting

2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups cocoa powder

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup water

1 1/4 cups condensed milk

2 cans evaporated milk

1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350deg F. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 

In another bowl, whisk the cocoa powder, coffee powder, and vanilla into the warm water. Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then alternately add the dry and liquid ingredients, making sure you begin and end with the dry ingredients. Pour the batter into lined-cupcake pans. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Make the frosting: 

In a thick saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa powder, and flour. In a mixing bowl, combine all liquid ingredients then pour into a saucepan. Whisk until well combined. Place the saucepan on low heat and keep whisking until the frosting is thick and of spreading consistency. Blend in butter. When ready, spread on the cupcakes.

No-Bake Mini Cherry Cheesecake

Ana Flor chose these mini pie plates. 

Graham cracker crumb-butter mixture thankfully stuck well at the bottom of the plates. I was afraid it wouldn't stay in place.

Final product

We also had a can of blueberry pie topping. The cheesecake filling will work perfectly with any topping that you want to use.

The recipe we used is from the free recipe at the back of the cream cheese box. We've just made some minor changes and substitutions. Like instead of using Magnolia All Purpose Cream, we used Nestle Cream instead. Since we've already tried making this using the original recipe, we discovered that using Nestle Cream instead of all-purpose cream made it more delectable. When we used the all-purpose cream before, it made the filling a little fluffy so you taste more of the cream than the cream cheese. By using Nestle Cream, it brought out the flavor of the cream cheese.

The original recipe also has lemon rind. We didn't include this. But if you want to, you can add 1 tsp lemon rind.

Here's our tweaked recipe:

Ingredients -
Crust: 1 1/4 cups Graham cracker crumbs (we used MY San Graham Cracker Crumbs)
            1 tsp cinnamon
            1/3 cup melted butter
            2 tbsps sugar

Filling: 1 pkg Magnolia Cream Cheese, softened
             1/4 cup sugar
             1 tbsp unflavored gelatin dissolved in
             3 tbsps fresh milk (we used evaporated milk instead)
             1 can Nestle Cream (the original recipe called for Magnolia All Purpose Cream), chilled
           
             1 can Cherry Pie Filling

To make the crust, mix crumbs with cinnamon, sugar and melted butter. Press on 12-14 pieces mini pie plates.

For the filling, beat cream cheese and sugar until light and well-blended. Meanwhile, dissolve the unflavored gelatin in milk over low heat and add to cream cheese mixture while still hot. Continue beating to blend well. In a separate bowl, whip cream until stiff and fold into the cream cheese mixture. Pour onto crumb-lined pan. Top with the cherry pie filling. Chill for 4-6 hours.

My first attempt at making my own cappuccino ;D

DON'T FORGET - as in DON'T FORGET to grind your coffee beans. I forgot to and the result (and feeling of stupidity) was too funny to even describe.

hmmmmmmmm...the smell of freshly ground coffee is just indescribable!!

of course, don't forget to pack it into the "thing" (bleh...don't even know what this is called).

can't wait...

come on!! froth already! it just took eons for the cream to froth. i have to call my brother to ask if i was doing it correctly.

finally!! It was exhausting but at least I made it myself. So I have to savor every drop of it. lol

Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

I will definitely try this out

Melting Moments

Here's another melt-in-your-mouth cookie recipe that I got from joyofbaking.com. You won't regret making and eating this really yummy treat. It's so easy to make, actually.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornstarch (corn flour)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup Confectioners' sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Topping:

Confectioners' sugar, sifted

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least one hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350degF (177degC) and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

When dough is firm, form into 1-inch (2.54cm) balls and place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 12-14 minutes or until the edges of the cookies start to brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, line another baking pan or tray with parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle about half of the confectioners' sugar onto the bottom of the pan and then place the slightly cooled cookies on top of the sugar. Put the remaining sugar in a fine strainer or sieve and then sprinkle the tops of the cookies (or you can just roll the cookies in the sugar.

These cookies store very well. Place in an airtight container between sheets of wax paper and they will keep a couple of weeks.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Apple Coffee Cake

I will create a label for recipes I wanna try, and this would be the first on my list. I saw this recipe from simplyrecipes.com.

I tried another Apple Coffee Cake recipe from momswhothink.com before. It was a very good recipe, but unfortunately I lost my copy. I went back to momswhothink to copy the recipe coz I was planning to bake that again. I was looking for it for almost an hour and I simply can't find it. It's very disappointing because that was a really tasty recipe. So I decided to find another same recipe, and found this instead. I just hope this will be as delicious as the first one that I've tried. Hopefully, I'll get to try this by April. : ) I can't wait!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup whole milk
1 medium Cortland or other baking apple, peeled and sliced

1. Set the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with or pie pan a 4-cup capacity.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a bowl, combine 1/3 a cup of the sugar with the cinnamon, set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Beat in the egg until blended. Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk, beating until just combined.
5. Spread half the batter in the baking dish. Lay the apple slices on the batter so they just cover the batter (you may have to overlap some slices). Sprinkle the apples with half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Spread the rest of the batter over the apples. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon-sugar on top.
6. Bake the cake for 25 minutes or until it is golden brown and apples start to bubble at the edges.

Serves 6

Chocolate Crinkles

Chocolate Crinkles is the ultimate chocolate cookie recipe for me. Oozing with gooey-ness and yumminess. The ideal chocolate crinkle is a little chunky on the outside, but very soft inside that it would practically melt in your mouth. Heavenly!!

I got this recipe from a Maya recipe book and after one try, I've been using and sharing this recipe like forever. No other recipe beats this.

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups cocoa powder

2 tsps vanilla

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 tsps baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350degF. Prepare baking sheets.

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients until well-blended. Form the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in Confectioners' sugar then put them on the baking sheets. Bake until cookie cracks on top. Center should still be soft.

Makes 3 dozens.

Cookie recipes I ♥ from my undergraduate days

Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe - pic by my bff Rhoda Avanzado-Phillips

Here are two proven and tested cookie recipes that was taught by my ND teacher. This is my ultimate favorite recipe of oatmeal cookies. The chocolate chip cookies are also delicious. I usually bake this for Christmas to give to family and close friends.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

(Mrs. Field's Recipe)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup salted butter, softened

2 large eggs

2 tsps vanila extract

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 300degF.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, soda and salt. Mix well with a wire whisk.
• In a medium bowl with an electric mixer, blend sugars at a medium speed. Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix at a medium speed until just blended. Do not overmix.
• Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips, and blend at low speed until just mixed. Do not overmix.
• Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips, and blend at low speed until just mixed. Do not overmix.
• Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies immediately to a cool surface with a spatula.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozens.

OATMEAL COOKIES

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup refined sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup oats

1/2 cup chopped cashew nuts

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces

• Sift flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• Cream butter with sugar. Add the egg then mix thoroughly until well-blended.
• Add the flour mixture then the oats, nuts and chocolate pieces.
• Drop into oiled cookie sheet by teaspoon. Bake at 375degF for 20 minutes.