 I've never been so thankful for self checkout lines at the grocery store than I was yesterday. Let's just say that there was an unbelievable sale on my favorite brand of flour soooo... I bought the entire display. 😬😅 This isn't my first flour hoarding episode so I knew full well the incriminating stares and judgmental comments that I was inevitably going to face from the cashier - not to mention the other shoppers that are clearly shocked and somewhat offended by a grocery cart overflowing exclusively with bags of flour. 🤣 Hello self checkout. No accusatory stares or snide comments - AND I saved $5.00 a bag! It was totally worth buying my weight in flour. 😂  So what's a girl to do with all this flour? Bake bread of course. 🥖I'm generally a yeast bread kind of girl but I've had this recipe for Orange Cranberry Soda Bread in by blog cue for a while and what better time to give it a try right now while I'm armed with a surplus of flour? Soda Bread is a quick bread that doesn't require any yeast so all of you who have yeast-phobia - this is the recipe for you. All of its leavening comes from baking soda which means there's no fussy rising to deal with. It’s dense, but still soft at the same time. And it has the most delicious crispy, crusty exterior that you'll ever taste.
 Orange Cranberry Soda Bread 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries 1 Tablespoon orange zest 2 Tablespoons orange juice 1 3/4 cup buttermilk 2 1/2 cups flour 3/4 cup whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 4 ounces white chocolate, cut into 1/2" chunks
Bake 35-40 minutes at 400. Cool 1 hour before baking.  Cranberry Orange Soda bread. 👍🏻
Ciao!
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 What's better than eating a chocolate sugar cookie? Eating TWO chocolate sugar cookies stuffed with a layer of creamy white chocolate filling! 😁Anyone else feel like they're getting away with something when they eat a filled cookie? Like you've somehow worked the system by getting two cookies with and a scrumptious filling that really only counts as only one serving of dessert? Tricking myself into consuming a bonus cookie really isn't as hard as you might think. 😂 Based on my 2 for one cookie argument, you probably think that I'm a fan of the super popular Oreo cookie. Not true. I'm actually a fan of the cookie portion - just not the filling. And in case you're wondering, I still count the top and bottom cookies as one - since it was once one cookie, before I scraped out the filling. 💁🏻♀️  I want to be really clear - my Double Chocolate Sandwich cookies are NOT an Oreo want-to-be. They may have similarities to the Oreo - two chocolate cookies and all, but these are different - deliciously different. I'll be the first to admit that white chocolate really isn't my cup of tea. BUT, this white chocolate and whipped cream filling sandwiched between two dark chocolate cookies is heavenly. The white and dark chocolate compliment each other perfectly.  Double Chocolate Sandwich Cookies 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup cocoa 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1 3/4 cups sugar 1 stick butter 1 egg 1 3/4 teaspoons vanilla 4 ounces white chocolate, chopped 1/2 cup heavy cream
 I have a whole new level of appreciation for St. Patrick's Day since my trip to Ireland last month. I fell in love with the country and the people of Ireland, immediately. Next week, I want to recreate all the amazing food that we ate in the Irish pubs. And for dessert - double chocolate shamrock cookies. ☘️
Ciao!  The theme of green cupcakes continues with the latest addition to my green cupcake collection - the Shamrock Shake cupcake. The Shamrock shake is only available for a limited time at McDonald's restaurants and it's arguably one of the most delicious milkshakes ever to be created. By far the best thing on the menu at McDonald's this month. (Just my humble opinion of course.)  Since I'm not a huge fan of milkshakes but I love the flavor of the Shamrock shake - I decided to convert the famous seasonal shake into a cupcake. Turns out I wasn't the first to come up with the idea for a Shamrock Shake cupcake. BrownEyedBaker.com has a great recipe on her website that I used as inspiration for my very own Shamrock shake cupcake.  Shamrock Shake Cupcakes ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons cake flour ½ cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1¼ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon kosher salt ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into ½-inch cubes 2 eggs ½ cup whole milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon mint extract 6 drops green food coloring Combine cake flour, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in bowl of standing mixer. Add butter and beat with flat beater until coarse crumbs form.  Beat in eggs.  Beat in milk, vanilla, mint and green food coloring.  Scoop into a cupcake pan lined with paper cupcake liners.   Bake 25 minutes at 350. (For jumbo size cupcakes.)  Frost with cream cheese frosting - tinted green of course - and decorate with a few green pearls.      I certainly do not wish to take any business away from any restaurant BUT if you want an alternative to a cold Shamrock shake - a Shamrock cupcake is the way to go. Sometimes it's just a little too chilly in March to enjoy a milkshake. Either way really - cupcake or shake - you can't go wrong. Ciao!  If I didn't know any better - I'd think that the Girl Scouts have been hiding their cookies from me this year. I have been intentionally searching for Girl Scouts with cookies to sell every time that I leave the house and I have seen absolutely none - zilch - zero. Which means - there are no thin mints in this house!!! (A tragedy of epic proportions.)  I got tired of waiting for my box of thin mints and I finally broke down and bought a bag of the first cousin to the thin mint - Keebler's Grasshopper cookies. They really are quite yummy and they make an excellent addition to this incredible Grasshopper cupcake. If you were lucky enough to find a box of Girl Scout thin mints this season, you can use those in the recipe as well.  Grasshopper Cupcakes 1 batch of your favorite chocolate cake batter 26 Grasshopper (or Thin Mint) cookies 1 batch of peppermint ganache 1 recipe peppermint buttercream  Prepare a batch of chocolate cupcake batter. (Enough for 12 jumbo sized cupcakes.)  Place one cookie in the bottom of each cupcake liner. Pour batter on top of cookie and bake 25 minutes at 350.  Cut a hole in the center of each cupcake.  Fill with mint ganache.  Pipe peppermint buttercream over cupcake. Crush 2 cookies and sprinkle crumbs over buttercream. Top with another grasshopper (or thin mint) cookie.    These ought to hold me over until I can find a Girl Scout willing to sell me a box of thin mints. :) Ciao!  I don't know about your house but around here, as soon as March 1st rolls around - everything starts to turn green. The pancakes - the bread - the eggs - and especially the dessert.  I've already made my green velvet cupcakes and my cherry limeade cupcakes but I have a few more green surprises up my sleeve for later this month. (Shamrock shake cupcakes, anyone?) My newest addition to my green cupcake collection are these super delicious pistachio cupcakes. You're going to want to make these all year - trust me - don't limit yourself to making them only once a year just because they're green. Go green all year - that's what I say!  Pistachio Cupcakes 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup oil 2 eggs 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 2/3 cup flour 3.4 ounce package instant pistachio pudding mix 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt Combine sugar, oil, eggs, salt, baking powder and baking soda in bowl of standing mixer. Beat well.   Combine flour and pudding mix in a separate bowl. Whisk together milk and yogurt. Add to egg mixture, alternating with dry ingredients.   Scoop batter into prepared cupcake pans. Bake 25 minutes (for jumbo size) at 350.   While cupcakes cool, chop a few fresh pistachios for garnish.  Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, frost with cream cheese icing and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.   I am in love with these pistachio cupcakes. They are super moist and really flavorful. No need to add any extra color, the pudding adds just the right amount of color to make them perfectly green. I hope that you enjoy these as much as I do. (ooops, I mean - did.) Ciao! |
