Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Princess Pink Cookies

Hey Cats!

I know that I said my next blog post would be about my day in NYC, but I haven't wanted to do that yet. Also, since I plan on becoming the next Martha Stewart, I decided blogging about food would be a step in the right direction. But I really am going to post about it soon, before I forget! Before we get to the star of the show, let me tell you a little bit about my summer. I've been taking my math class, so that's what I do in the mornings, and study a little at night. It's actually my most sucessful attempt at a math class in my entire life, so I'm pleased with that. I also have like, 5 other craft projects I'm working on, and I'll be excited to share those when (if) I finish them! I also have been searching all over town for a paperback copy of Mockingjay. I read the first two Hunger Games books in less than a week, and I'm absolutely DYING to read the third. I found one today at WalMart, but in the checkout line, I realized it was large print, so I put it back. I have a thing about large print books. They just bother me & my eyes kind of freak out. Also, I feel like I'm reading a "chapter book" I would have read in like, the second grade. You know what I mean. Books like Junie B. Jones, The Magic Treehouse series, and whatever else you read as a child all have that like, 20 point font. That's what large print reminds me of, and since I am no child, I can't stand it. So, the search continues. I started reading Jane Eyre, but I've only gotten through three chapters, and while I love the Bronte sisters and their literary masterpieces, I'd honestly rather just find out what happens between Katniss and Peeta. #sorryimnotsorry. Also, I got a new planner today on my weekly trip to Target. It's honestly kind of sad how excited I got about it. It matches the cover I have from last year, and it has a beautiful pattern on the pages. Oh yeah, this is supposed to be about cookies. Whoops.

These are seriously the easiest cookies you will ever make in your entire life. I made them in New York, and they were wonderful, so when I saw pink lemonade cake mix at WalMart today, I was overjoyed and purchased a box. Now, I've made cake mix cookies before, but apparently not many people have heard of them, so I'm trying to spread the word. Also, these are pink, which makes them ten times better, because I feel like princesses would only eat pink cookies. The lemonade flavor is really different than what you'd have every day, and it's great for summer! Anyways, here's what you'll need:
-1 box Pink Lemonade Cake Mix (I used Pillsbury, you can use whatever...if anyone else makes that kind)
-2 eggs
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
The beginnings of cookies fit for a princess. Or a 5-year old.



Here's what you do:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350.

2. Mix together the cake mix, oil, and eggs, until you get a little pink bundle of joy like you see below. You might think that you need to add a little more liquid, but if you keep mixing, it'll be okay. I had a few lumps of mix left in mine, but I just said YOLO and continued on with my life. (not really, I hate that phrase. But I did leave them and it was fine.)

The dough reminds me of edible play-dough I made in my childhood. But it was peanut butter. But still awesome.

3. Next, spray your baking sheet with some pan. The dough is really oily, so it's probably not 100% necessary, but I like to be on the safe side.

4. Next, I rolled the dough into little balls and placed them on my cookie sheet. You could totally do rounded teaspoonfuls if that's your thing, but I like uniformity in my baking, so I chose to roll them.
My vain attempt at an artistic camera angle. I think I'll just stay on the other side of the camera. lawlz.
5. Bake for 12.5 minutes. This is very exact, and I'm kind of proud of that, since I was winging this one. You can tell when they're browning on the edges, and that's when they're done. But, if you take them out and they still aren't firm after a few minutes, I'd put them back in for like, 2 minutes. 12.5 should do the trick, but if you don't believe me, experiment at your own risk.
I love how they're crackly on top.


6. Eat them. (Not all of them, I don't promote obesity.)
Plate of Pink.


See how easy that was?? Just six steps, and the last one was unnecessary! Apparently you can make these with any cake mix, so the possibilities are basically endless. Except I'm not sure how it would work out with an angel food mix...someone please try that and let me know. Rebecca, the precious girl from Georgia that we met in Long Island, told us that if you use a lemon cake mix and use a little less oil and add a little lemon and orange juice, they're divine! So I'll probs be trying that one soon. Anyways, the point is, you're only a box, two eggs, and half a cup of oil away from wonderful cookies. I hope you try this and love it as much as I do! And I promise I'll write about New York next time. In the meantime, hopefully I'll find Mockingjay and fun activities to write in my new planner. Until next time!



Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Brownie Buttons- Recipe

Hey Cats!

Since I'm home for Spring Break this week, I actually have time to blog! I was planning on crafting as well, but then I went to Barnes & Noble & bought myself a couple of books, so crafts aren't really happening this week. Between the chapters of my British literature & hanging out with my family however, I whipped up some delicious cookies! I wanted to bake something, and we had a brownie mix, so I decided to get creative! Actually, I just Googled, but whatever. I've found you can find a recipe for basically everything if you google it. Anyways, I wanted to make cookies out of a brownie mix, so I typed in "brownie mix cookies" on the world's most convienient website, and took the first recipe I came across. (I'm going to write out the recipe, but here's the link, just to give credit where credit is due: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1710,148185-235195,00.html ).
Here's what you'll need!
1 box of brownie mix (I used Pillsbury)
1/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp. water (I used a little less)
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup of chocolate chips & 1/2 cup of Heath Bar bits)

Here's what you do!
1. Mix everything together, except the chocolate chips, by hand.
2. Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Drop by VERY VERY SMALL spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes!

The reason I suggest making them very small is because
1. The batter goes further. More cookies = more reasons to smile
2. This batter spreads like none other once it's in the oven. If they're too big to begin with, all the cookies will run together & make fat, ugly cookies, which is a personal peeve of mine.
3. Smaller cookies are much easier to remove from the pan. These are very fragile too, so the smaller you make them, the easier your life will be.

Also, I HIGHLY advise using Pam on the cookie sheet between each batch. For real, spray that stuff on thick. Scraping burnt-on crap off a cookie sheet is not what you want to be doing when you have a Jane Austen novel waiting for you. Or ever, really.

Here's what my first batch looked like (Please don't laugh...I learned from my mistakes.) :

This is why you make them small, or else they turn out looking like cow patties. By the way, I considered naming these creations "Cow Patty Cookies" for about .032 seconds, but then I decided that was disgusting. I may be from East Texas, but that's just too much. I hope I didn't ruin this for anyone by saying that....
Here's what they looked like once I finally figured everything out!
Much better! They're quite delicious, if I do say so myself. They're kind of chewy, and they taste pretty much the same as a brownie, they're just in cookie form. Well, I go back to school on Sunday (I can't wait for that, by the way), so it might be a while before I blog again. Maybe next time I'll give a literary analysis of Emma, if I have it finished by then. I would like to state that at this point, I think Emma is a bit of a brat & if I were Harriet, I would be royally cheesed off at her. But Harriet's stupid. I'll save this for another day ;) Until next time!