Cookie Dough Lover's Unite!!! :D

I can't wait to share with you guys a recipe from the Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook! When you were a kid, did your hand just gravitate to that unbaked bowl of cookie dough? Well, I'm sorry to say, but I had an aversion to unbaked cookie dough, unless it was in cookie dough ice cream. Hm, I really should try that recipe! Lindsay has a recipe for some amazing sounding cookie dough ice cream (chunks of cookie dough on browned butter ice cream anyone?!?!). Anyways, I know these cupcakes don't exactly look like the ones in the book....but I tried! And I messed up along the way....Yup, while I was making the cookie dough batter I accidentally put the chocolate chips in before I portioned out the frosting part! Grrr, so when I tried to frost the cupcakes, the chocolate bits got stuck in the tip, and I couldn't frost the cupcakes nice and pretty :(

So, I put on my problem solving cap and thought of a new idea. I remembered clearing my pantry out and finding some sprinkles, and then it hit me. Cover the tops with sprinkles! So it looked a lot better in my head, but I guess it worked out ok. The cupcake itself was moist, but not as chocolatey as I would have liked. But when paired with chocolate chip cookie dough filling and frosting, the cupcake was delicious! If you love cookie dough, I would definitely recommend buying Lindsay's book. It's cute, fun, and the recipes and pictures are oh-so-mouth-watering!

Now, here are a ton of pictures!!!!

Randommmmm

Roses!

Banana Cinnamon Muffins

Pretty flowers..

OMG its a green walkway! Haha, just jokes, its an algae covered stream

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear...."

Mint Cookies

So I guess I did have a lot of pictures to post. Well, this I'm pretty sure is from christmas time O.o oops. I guess I'm way behind in posting! The kiss seems to have melted, I probably made a mental note to place the kiss after baking...or not use mint kisses. Maybe they melt under lower temperatures? Anyways, this is a mint chocolate chocolate cookie with a mint kiss and andes peppermint baking chips.

Hello Kitty Waffle O.o

Just a quick post cause I wanted to share with you this super cute waffle I ate the other day! So my friend gave me a hello kitty waffle maker a long long time ago, and I finalyl began using it last weekend. Kay, so maybe this picture isn't that great of a picture (I really wanted to get back to eating!) but the waffles were super fluffy and slightly crispy, just the way i like it, plus they're in the shape of Hello Kitty!! What could be better than that?!?!?!

Cream Puffs :) aka シュウクリム！

シュウクリム = shoe cream, but not actual shoe cream. That'd be just plain gross. It's actually a cream puff!! I used tartine bakery's recipe, and they turned out sooooo good! I made cream puffs previously, and while they turned out ok, I guess I didn't use enough batter for each mound because they were too tiny. Also, don't open the oven door during the first part of baking!! I think that's why last time I made them they collapsed :( Anyways, enjoy!

Super thick yummy pastry cream !

Puff Part (from here, but actually from the book-im just too lazy to retype..)

Ingredients:
4 oz nonfat milk
4 oz water
4 oz unsalted butter
4 oz all purpose flour
4 eggs

For savory preparations, add 1 tsp salt
For sweet preparations, add ¼ tsp salt and 1 Tbsp sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line sheet pans with parchment or a nonstick mat.
2. Measure out flour, and reserve for later. Crack eggs, set aside.
3. In a medium size heavy bottomed sauce pan combine milk, water, butter, salt and sugar, if using. Place pan over medium high heat. (Choose a pan that is bigger than you think you need as flour will cause the mixture to swell and expand and the last thing you need is a bunch of hot choux all over you.)
4. Heat mixture until it comes just to a boil, there should be steam coming off and visible bubbling of the surface but not a rolling boil (once mixture comes up to heat, it will boil over easily, so if it looks close, do not wander away from it), then turn heat off and immediately dump in flour. Whisk to combine until all flour is absorbed and no large chunks remain.
5. Return to medium-heat, switching to a wooden spoon. Begin to heat mixture, stirring constantly to release steam and cook off some of the water contained in the dough. This should take about 1-2 minutes and the mixture will transform from a chunkier, more amorphous mass into a much smoother, paste (you will see some of the paste begin to adhere to the bottom, and the dough will look like a mass of creamy mashed potatoes).
6. Transfer paste to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium speed, beat mixture for about 1 minute to release some of the heat (if you add eggs to quickly, you will end up with the scrambled eggs in your paste). Begin to add eggs, one at a time, allowing each egg to be fully incorporated before adding the next. Continue to beat on medium speed until paste cools a bit and holds medium peaks, about 5-10 minutes, depending on the batch size.
7. The paste can be used immediately or stored in the fridge, for up to one day.
8. Fill a pastry bag and pipe into desired shapes.
9. Bake choux at 425 for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees for 10-20 minutes longer until shells are crisp and golden brown all over.
10. Remove from oven and poke with a skewer or toothpick to allow steam to escape, this will keep them from collapsing outside of the oven, especially if you are making larger shapes.
11. Freeze leftover shells for up to 1 month, you can also freeze piped paste up to one week.